Rebirth
by Magnus Prime
Summary: (Megaman X continuity, post MMX8) With the Jakob's Ladder incident passing into history, Alia is given a chance to forge her own, unique future.
1. A Rogue Variable

**Rebirth  
** _by Magnus Prime_

 **Chapter One: A Rogue Variable**

"Um, Alia?"

"Yes?"

"Don't look now, but I think you're being watched."

The senior Navigator looked up from the maverick reports on her PADD, brushing a blonde lock from her eyes. "What do you mean?"

Sitting across from her and next to Layer, Palette discreetly pointed toward another table in the café. "The guy at that table."

Alia looked over to see a dark-haired gentleman working on a sub sandwich, then looked back. "What about him? He's eating lunch," she said, returning her attention to her PADD.

The junior Navigator pouted, but went back to her own reports.

"How is X doing?" Layer asked, pushing part of her purple lengths over her ear as she studied her own PADD.

"After the Jakob's Ladder incident? As well as X does," Alia replied, looking to her other junior Navigator. "Why?"

Even though Layer's bangs effectively covered her eyes, Alia could see her glance from side to side before answering. "Zero's taken it pretty hard; without Sigma around, it seems like he's lost his purpose."

"He'll be fine," Alia said, reaching out to lay a hand on her friend's arm as she held up her PADD with the other. "I've just received word of some new Mavericks; that should keep him happy for a while."

"I hope so," Layer replied.

"There! He's looking again!" Palette whispered intensely.

The other Navigators sighed before looking to her. "Okay…" Alia said in a conciliatory tone, "maybe he's never seen us here before. We don't exactly come here very often."

Palette smiled impishly at her senior. "I think he's checking you out."

"Just because you look like a child doesn't mean you have to act like one, Palette," Alia snapped, momentarily losing her normally even composure.

"I don't mean to alarm you, Alia, but I think she's right." Layer said in a low tone as she leaned over the table. "I've been keeping an eye on him as well, and I've seen similar behavior in other men-"

'"Towards you," Palette teased.

"-and I believe that she may be onto something."

Something about Layer's tone caught Alia's concern. "Okay, well…should we leave?"

Palette gave another impish smile. "What's the matter, Alia? Nervous?"

"Ugh…Palette, let's go pay for the drinks," Layer said, grabbing the smaller Navigator by the arm as she stood up, hopefully saving Alia from further teasing.

"Hey, what about Alia's?' Palette whined.

"You can pay for them to make up for the trouble you've been giving her," Layer replied as she half-walked, half-dragged the protesting Navigator toward the front counter.

Alia filtered out Palette's complaints with a shake of her head as she returned her attention to her PADD.

"Excuse me," came a masculine voice from her right.

"Layer's up at the front counter," Alia replied without looking up. Usually when men, either Reploid or human, talked to any of the three, it was really to talk to the shapely reploid.

"Um…okay, thank you, but I wasn't asking about her."

Alia looked up to see the man from earlier standing behind one of the chairs on the other side of the table, restaurant tray in hand. He appeared to be a little taller than Layer, with dark brown eyes and hair that went well with the black of his business suit. "I'm sorry…I didn't realize…" She felt her face heat up before quickly composing herself. "How can I help you?"

He gestured to the seat across from her. "May I bother you for a minute?"

Alia blinked. "It's no bother." She gestured to the same chair he had. "Have a seat."

He obliged, sitting and placing his tray on the table in front of him. Alia noticed that he didn't pick up his sandwich; All he did was lean back and look at her, as though studying her.

Finally he spoke: "Forgive me if this is too forward, but…hm."

Alia set her PADD down, her figurative internal alarms going off. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all," he said, steepling his fingers. "I'm just having trouble finding the right words… My apologies, I should have been better prepared…"

"Well, I don't mean to be rude, but my friends and I will be leaving soon-"

"Of course." He suddenly leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table and fixing her with a look of determination "Look, as I said, this is going to seem very forward, but I couldn't help but notice you, and would like to get to know you."

Alia was taken aback by his statement. "You want to get to know me? Why? We've just met!"

He blinked with a puzzled expression. "Well, of course; if I already knew you, we would have to have already met, right?"

It was Alia's turn to blink. "You're right; that was kind of dumb of me to say, now that I think about it. Sorry."

"Please, don't worry about it," he said with a smile and a wave of his hand. "So…would you be willing to exchange contact info, at least? I don't mean to be pushy or anything."

Alia sat up in her seat and crossed her arms. "Okay, fair enough. But, you know, I work for the Maverick Hunters, which means I'm-"

"Don't worry, I'm not trying to cause trouble or steal any secrets or anything like that," he said, waving a hand again. "I'm just asking for the opportunity to get to know a very beautiful young woman. Will you allow me that chance?"

Alia's hands fell into her lap as her eyes softened. Beautiful young woman? No one had ever called her 'beautiful' before. "I…don't know what to say…"

"How about 'Yes'?" he suggested with a twinkle in his eye.

She couldn't stop herself from smiling for some reason. "Okay, yes."

* * *

"He did? And you said 'yes'?" Palette was on the verge of turning into a giggle storm as the three of them walked back to Maverick Hunter Headquarters. "That's great, Alia!"

"Why did you accept?" asked Layer.

"I don't know, he just seemed so…genuine." Alia shrugged. "I thought that I should give him the chance, especially since he asked for it so directly."

"That's courage for you," noted Palette. "I wish Axl had shown that much early on."

"He was afraid of screwing up," Layer commented. "Remember, we've been designed to behave like our human counterparts, and human men value excellence highly."

"I could see that," Alia admitted.

"Could you tell what kind of reploid he was?" Layer asked.

"He looked like a business model," Alia replied, "but the way he carried himself told me that he has some combat capabilities. He didn't have any of the usual markings, so he might be a next-gen."

"At least you're not too far behind him, technology-wise," Layer observed. "You were upgraded shortly before Palette and I joined the Maverick Hunters, right?"

"About a couple of months," Alia confirmed, unconsciously running her fingers through her waist-length hair, one of the results of her time in the shop.

"You look really good," Palette said with a hint of jealousy. "No wonder he was checking you out." She sighed heavily. "It's too bad that I don't quality for an update for another two years."

"Still want the head modification?" Layer asked carefully.

The small Navigator reached up to trace a line along one of the panels that served as mounts for her secondary goggles. "Yeah. I'm glad that Axl doesn't mind them, but I think they make me look…dorky."

Alia couldn't help but chuckle, partly in sympathy and partly at the archaic term. "Hang in there, Palette; your time will come, and you'll be as beautiful as you could ever want."

"I hope so," she replied, casting a brief glance at Layer.

Other than the occasional comment about the clear, sunny weather, the navigators walked quietly toward the tall, modern-looking building that was Maverick Hunter HQ.

"When are you two meeting?" asked Layer as they waited to cross the street that ran in front of their workplace.

"A week from Saturday," replied the pink-clad Navigator. "We're meeting at the park on Center."

"The one with the jogging track?"asked Layer. "That's a nice place. Maybe we could make it a double-date with Zero and me."

"If you ever get the courage to talk to Zero without stammering," said Palette, teasing Layer for the umpteenth time that day.

The taller navigator simply ignored her.

"That's a good idea," thought Alia out loud. "You don't think that he'd be overwhelmed with all the new faces, do you?"

"You do have an 'imposing figure,'" added Palette, smirking at Layer.

"At least my creator gave me a figure," Layer shot back, finally silencing the teasing…for the time being, at least.

"You know, that's true," observed Alia. "I don't mean to be rude, but he might be uncomfortable around you, because…you know…."

"I think I understand," replied Layer. "Maybe another time, after he's had a chance to get to know us."

"One more thing," said Alia, stopping the trio just outside the sliding double doors to Maverick Hunter HQ. "Don't tell the commander. I don't want him to start hyper-analyzing and get paranoid."

"No problem, sis," chimed Palette. "We won't tell anyone."

"It's our secret," Layer agreed. "What is his name, though? Maybe I can get some information for you?"

"Oh! His name is Max."


	2. D-Date!

**Chapter Two: D-Date!**

Alia tugged nervously at her outfit as she waited by the entrance to the park. She knew that she was ridiculously early, but her anxiety had her booting up nearly five hours before the event and two hours before Layer and Palette had shown up to help her get ready.

She looked down at the dress that Palette had chosen for her and sighed. It was a bright pink dress that covered her from her neck to her knees, with sleeves that went to her elbows. White lace decorated the neck, the end of the skirt, and the ends of the sleeves. "It looks girly!" the small navigator had decided before pushing Alia into the changing area over Layer's protests.

She sighed as she hesitantly tugged at the lace at the hem. She wasn't sure if the dress was a good fit for-

"Hey!" a newly-familiar voice greeted, and she looked up to see Max jogging up to her. In contrast to her bright pink and white, he looked more subdued in his black polo shirt and tan shorts. It managed to look professional and casual at the same time. "Sorry, am I late?"

"Not at all," Alia replied, feeling self-conscious. "I just got here a little early."

"Good," he said, smiling in spite of his noticeable shortness of breath. "I didn't want to keep you waiting." He gestured toward her. "You look nice."

"Thanks," Alia mumbled. "One of my coworkers picked this out for me."

"Not much of a fashionista?"

"My job doesn't exactly lend itself to dressing in the latest styles," Alia explained, thinking of her usual 'bodysuit and upper armor' uniform.

"Well, you go with what works, right?" he asked with a lopsided smile.

She couldn't help but chuckle. "Right."

"Are you ready, then?" he asked, gesturing to the park entrance.

She looked from her 'date' to the park entrance and back. "S-Sure."

"So, tell me about yourself," he said as they started through the gate. "I mean, other than your work, of course; I get that you can't talk about that."

She gave a grateful smile as she pushed her hair over her ear. "Well…to be honest, there's not much to me other than my work."

"Your work is your life, is that it?"

"You could say that," she replied as she played with the lace on one of her sleeves. "I power on in the morning, meet up with the other navigators, and head to work."

"Let me guess; you're X's navi, aren't you?"

She stopped in her tracks. "How…How did you know?"

He stopped as well, moving to stand before her. "I didn't; the way the media reports on all of you I figure that you're X's navi, while Palette is Axl's and Layer is Zero's." He shook his head with a smile. "Man, I'd love to meet Zero sometime."

"Why?"

"I like his intensity…and that he uses a sword," Max replied as they started walking again. "Don't misunderstand, though; I'm not trying to sweet-talk my way to an interview or anything."

"I didn't think you were," she said. "Well, it's not like he's never out-and-about. I'm sure if you keep your eyes open you'll run into him eventually." She glanced over at her date. "What is it about his sword-use that you like?"

"Truth be told, I'm training to use two swords myself."

"Two swords? Why is that?"

He shrugged. "So I can protect the ones I love."

"That's a good reason," she said. "Well, if you get good enough at it, maybe HQ will want to bring you on."

"Maybe," he said, then smirked. "The only problem is, you're already X's navi."

"What does that have to do with…" she trailed off with a blush as she saw the smile on Max's face as he looked at her.

"I'd want you to be my navi," he clarified, "and I'd be a little jealous if I had to share."

"I wouldn't be your property, you know," she pointed out.

"Of course not," he said, smile still in place. "But, I figure that by the time I'd be good enough, we'd be further along in our relationship."

"You've got this all figured out, then?"

"Naw…if we don't work out, then we don't work out," he said matter-of-factly, which surprised her. "But I figure that even if this doesn't work out, at least I've made a new friend." He shrugged. "Provided I don't screw up completely and chase you away, of course."

A smile crept across Alia's face. Of all the Reploids she had known – or even humans for that matter – Max was certainly unique. "I'm fine so far."

"Cool." He appeared to look her over. "Hey listen, could I shoot you straight?"

Her eyebrows jumped at the euphemism. "I…suppose."

"You said that your friend picked out your dress, right?"

"That's right."

"Okay. How do I say this…?" He came to a stop, and she followed suit. "That dress looks good and all. But it…it's not you."

Part of her was relieved to hear it, but… "What do you mean?"

He sighed heavily as he pressed his finger to his mouth in thought. "Well, you're a pretty girl and that's a pretty dress, but…" he gestured toward her. "…you're different kinds of pretty."

"Thanks," she said, looking down at herself. "I was thinking that something wasn't right about this; I just thought it was because I'm not used to wearing anything other than my uniform."

"Nah, trust your instincts," he said with a smile. "You girls are all about being pretty, so if you don't think something looks good on you, you go with that."

"O-Okay."

"I think I got it," he said, gesturing toward her again. "Did Miss Palette choose that for you? She's the short blonde, right?"

"That's right," Alia replied. "And yeah, she did."

"I knew it!" he said, snapping his fingers. "See, she picked a dress that would be perfect for her. She's short and cute, so something like this would be great on her."

"I wonder what Axl would think, though…" Alia mused.

"It'd be perfect for her, so I'm sure he'd get a kick out of it," Max said confidently. "Anyway, you're more…your beauty is more…sophisticated?" He started to tap his chin with his finger, then decided. "Yeah, that'll work; your beauty is more sophisticated. I'd say 'mature' but I wouldn't want to imply that Miss Palette isn't."

"I think I understand," Alia blushed. "Th-Thanks."

"Soooo…" He rubbed his hands together. "If you don't mind, I know of this one place that sells women's clothes, and…"

It didn't take Signas' processing abilities to figure out what he was getting at. "I don't know…I mean, this is our first time together. I'm not really comfortable with…"

"No, I think I understand," he said, hands raised. "Sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"It's okay; I know you meant well." She studied him for a few moments, looked down at herself, then a smile spread across her face. "You know what? Why not?"

"Sorry?"

"I've changed my mind," she announced. "Would you take me to this store of yours?"

He blinked a few times, apparently surprised by her about-face. "Uh, sure!" He pointed back toward the entrance to the park. "It's this way. Let's go?"

"Lead the way," she said, beaming.

"Cool!"

* * *

Alia shivered slightly as she followed Max into the small shop; the temperature inside was noticeably lower than that of outside, and it took several moments for her internal thermostat to adjust her heat output to compensate. "Wow…" she breathed at the sight of rows upon rows of colorful garments. "So many clothes…"

"Now, I'm not a fashionista, either," Max admitted, "but I'm sure we could find something for you here."

"Hello?" The couple looked toward the back of the store to see an older woman, not quite elderly, entering through a door in the back. "Ah! I thought I heard voices!"

"Hey, Ginny," Max greeted with a raised hand.

"Ah, Max!" Ginny tuned back toward the doorway to the back. "Jaxon! Max is here! And that stupid door alarm isn't working again!"

Alia hid a giggle behind her hand at the annoyed grumble that came from the back.

"Never mind him," the older lady scoffed as she waved a hand behind her. "Anyway, what brings you here?"

Max gestured toward his date. "We're here to get something more…appropriate for her."

"Well, let's take a look," Ginny said, smiling as she walked up to Alia. "My, you're a pretty one, aren't you?" Her smile faded as she saw the outfit the young woman wore. "My…that is…"

"A friend of hers picked it for her," Max explained helpfully.

"I'm sure," the older woman said as she covered her mouth with the back of her hand as her shoulders shook. "I'm sorry dear, but…that dress is cute, but…"

"We know," Max interrupted. "That's why we're here; we're hoping you could hook her up with something that's as beautiful as she is."

"My!" Ginny exclaimed, fanning herself with her free hand as she looked to Alia. "So, he's managed to charm you as well?"

"As well?" Alia looked over at her date. "Are…there others?"

"No!" Max exclaimed, giving the older woman a dirty look. "At least…not anymore."

"You're the third girl he's dated this year," Ginny said, giving Max an amused look. "He goes through them so quickly…"

"Three?" Alia couldn't believe her ears, and she whirled on Max. "What kind of guy are you anyway?"

"Hey, not what you think!" Max exclaimed, taking a step back with hands raised defensively.

"Calm down, dear," Ginny told Alia in a gentle tone. "He's a…unique individual, as I'm sure you've already noticed. Most modern girls can't handle his more…old-fashioned way of looking at relationships."

"It's not 'old-fashioned'," Max complained. "Anyway…can you help us out?"

"Absolutely." Ginny reached out and took Alia's hand. "Come on, dear; let's see what we can find for you."

"O-Okay," Alia stammered as she allowed herself to be led to another part of the shop and away from Max. When she figured they were out of earshot she asked, "What did you mean when you said that I was his third?"

Ginny chuckled warmly as she released the navigator's hand. "I was mainly teasing him dear, but it is true that he dated two other girls earlier this year."

"What happened?"

"They broke up with him," Ginny said as she looked through one of the racks of clothes, "which doesn't surprise me, really." She glanced over at Alia before handing her a skirt. "You know, Max's opinions are strange to the modern mind, but I really think he really wants the best for everyone."

"Why do you say that?" Alia asked as she accepted the proffered skirt.

The older women straightened to fix her with her gaze. "Because, ultimately, he's seeking the truth."

"The truth?"

Ginny nodded sagely. "You know how two plus two equals four and the like?"

"Of course."

"Well, there are truths having to do with the nature of people, and Max believes that we have either forgotten them or chosen to ignore them." She returned to searching the clothing rack. "He just wants to find those truths again and live them; share them with others, if he can."

Alia mulled over the shopkeeper's words; they made sense, but… "Ma'am? I don't mean to be rude, but…you seem awfully philosophical for a clothing store owner."

Ginny paused in her search, then straightened again to face Alia with a smile laced with good humor. "That's what happens when you're married to a philosophy professor for twenty-five years." She turned and buried herself in a different clothing rack. "If you end up rejecting him, he'll be hurt but he'll understand. I will tell you that he is a good boy, though."

Alia looked over at Max, who was busy examining a dress near the entrance with a serious expression, and smiled to herself. "I'd like to give him a chance," she decided. "If he's trying to find the truth about things, I'd like to help him if I can."

"Then you may be just the kind of girl he's looking for," the older woman remarked in a muffled voice, her head still buried in garments.

* * *

"Wow…" Max clapped as Alia twirled slowly in her new outfit. "How does it feel? What do you think?"

Alia looked at herself in the shop's full-length mirror again; her long, blonde hair settled on a light pink jacket with tiny black buttons to close it over a white, button-up blouse with short frills on either side of the row of buttons. Long sleeves with buttons on the cuffs reached to her wrists. A skirt the same color as the jacket covered her to her knees, where white stockings with black pinstripes covered her legs until they disappeared into a pair of simple black shoes. She looked every bit the professional woman. "I…I like it…I think."

"If you're not used to wearing business suits, it may take some getting used to," Ginny said as she brushed some stray lint from the jacket. "I will say that you look lovely, dear."

"Th-Thank you," Alia breathed, feeling a little overwhelmed as she continued to study her reflection. "Would it make sense if I said 'I feel pretty'?"

"Absolutely," Ginny confirmed, then glanced over at Max. "Wouldn't you agree?"

The man in question blew air noisily as though winded from a run. "Yes, ma'am…wow." He started to pull out his wallet. "How much do I owe you, Miss Ginny?"

"What?!" Alia blurted. "But…we barely know each other! This is our first time together! Why…?"

Max smiled as he laid a hand on her shoulder. "Consider it an investment," he told her. "An investment in our future."

"Hopefully this one works out," Ginny quipped. "You've already made couple of bad investments so far this year."

"But I learned from them," he replied, his expression and tone growing serious as he shifted his attention to the shop owner. "I'm not the man I was then; I've learned."

"I hope so."

Alia smiled fondly at his determined expression; she could see that, like X, he was someone who wanted to do great things, and she found herself wanting to see if he would succeed.

* * *

"Hey, sorry about back there," he said, gesturing back to the clothing store as they walked back to the park. "I'll understand if you don't want to have anything to do with me after this; I know that three girlfriends…well, two in one year can sound suspicious."

"It's okay; I understand," Alia replied as she pushed a lock of hair over her ear. "Miss Ginny told me your story."

"How…How much did she tell you?" he asked nervously.

"Enough," she replied, giving him a sly grin, causing him to avert his gaze to the ground. "Seriously, she told me about how you're trying to find the truth about things, both for yourself and for others."

"Really? With all the crap-sorry, with all the teasing she gave me?"

"Honestly, it surprised me, too," Alia admitted as they approached the entrance to the park. "Listen…I'm sorry, but I need to go."

"Huh?" He looked at his watch. "It's been four hours already? Man, where did the time go?"

"We did spend a lot of time in the shop," Alia pointed out.

"I guess," he said, disappointment clear on his face as he looked at the ground between them. "Sorry, I wish we'd had more time at the park."

"I had fun," Alia said consolingly as she dared to rest a hand on his shoulder. "Before I go, I'd like to set up our next date…if that's okay."

His gaze snapped up to hers. "Wh-What?"

* * *

"…so, we decided to meet up for dinner next week."

Green and cyan eyes stared in disbelief. "Y…You really did?!" Palette exclaimed.

"Amazing…" Layer breathed. "And you're okay with this, even though he has been in two relationships prior to yours?"

"It's not that unusual, is it?" Alia asked, shrugging a shoulder. "Even humans engage in multiple relationships before finding the so-called 'right one', right?"

"Now that you put it that way, you're right," Palette admitted, then smiled awkwardly. "I guess I never had to think about it much, since Axl and I hit it off pretty quickly."

"I'm impressed with what you said about him searching for truth," Layer said. "You were a researcher once, weren't you? This sounds like something you'd want to help with."

"I hadn't thought of that, but you're right," Alia said, twirling one of her golden locks. "I guess he did appeal to that side of me. After Gate, I guess I just didn't want to remember."

"You could get some happier memories of researching," Palette prompted cheerfully. "And on something that could help everybody!"

"Yeah," Alia said, a smile starting to form as her eyes lost focus. "I'm…really looking forward to it."


	3. Disaster Dinner

**Chapter Three: Disaster Dinner**

"Sorry I'm late!" Alia exclaimed as she ran up to Max just as he was checking his watch. "Palette tried to dress me up again!"

"You're not late," he replied, quickly dropping his arm to his side. "I…was just checking the time 'cause I have lousy time perception."

Alia blinked; reploids usually had superior time perception due to their internal chronometers. Maybe his model wasn't given one? "Oh…okay."

"Well, you ready to eat?" he asked, indicating the nearby restaurant. "I've never been here before, but I've heard the food tastes great!"

She smiled as she put thoughts of time aside. "I'm ready."

They started toward the restaurant, but instead of going inside Max headed toward one of the outside tables. "You okay with eating outside? The weather's nice, so I thought it'd be…well, nice."

She looked at the clear, blue sky before returning her gaze to her date. "Sure, that sounds nice."

"Nice," he repeated, and they shared a chuckle as he moved to pull out a chair for her.

They settled into their seats, and it wasn't long before a young-looking female reploid with long, brown hair and equally brown eyes appeared next to their table. "Hi! I'm Tray, and I'll be your server this evening!"

"Nice to meet you, Tray," Max greeted with a warm smile, causing Alia concern. "Could we have a couple of menus, please?"

"That's why I'm here!" she chirped. "Would you like tea to start with?"

"Please," Max replied, before looking to Alia. "Do you want any?"

"Y-Yeah…" Alia said in a low voice, then caught herself. "I…I mean, yes please!"

Max blinked at her sudden change in demeanor before looking back up to their server, who was still waiting patiently. "Tea for both of us, thank you."

"Of course!" Tray handed them menus, then bowed slightly before spinning to head back into the main eatery.

"You okay, Alia?" Max asked as the reploid waitress disappeared through the door. "You seem upset about something."

"You…" She wasn't sure how to phrase her concern. "You just seemed awfully friendly with our server. Do you know her?"

"No," he replied with a single shake of the head. "But I try to be friendly with everyone. Unless, of course, they're hostile toward me," he finished with a lopsided grin.

"O-Okay," Alia managed. "Sorry, it's just…"

"Yeah…" He looked down at the tabletop. "I…think I understand."

"I'm sorry. If the clothing store lady hadn't said anything-"

"No, I understand," Max interrupted, raising a reassuring hand. "I get that it might take me a while to prove myself. I'm just asking that you give me the chance to…well, prove myself."

"Maybe…Maybe we should talk about something else," Alia suggested, forcing a smile to her face. "What are you researching right now? What 'truth' are you looking for?"

Max blinked up with an expression of gratitude. "Well, right now I'm trying to figure out how a man should be."

Alia looked around at the other patrons, as well as other people walking by. "You could ask some of these people what they think."

He shook his head. "Tried that already with a different subject. After a while I realized that I'd only be able to find out what people actually do; I'm trying to discover what we should do…or, rather, how we should be." He crossed his arms as he leaned back in his chair. "While it's helpful to gather opinions as a point of reference, it doesn't necessarily help in discovering things outside of opinion, which is what I'm looking for: objective truth."

The navigator mulled this over. "That makes sense. I guess it would be a little different when researching character dynamics as opposed to technology. Technology's pretty static, while personalities and their characteristics would have more variables."

She heard a light *thump* from the other side of the table, and looked to see that Max's arms were no longer crossed, having dropped into his lap. "You…sound like you know what you're talking about," he said with noticeable awe. "Have you done research yourself?"

"I…was one of Gate's assistants back when…yeah." She cast her gaze to the table as the memories started to replay.

"You two were pretty tight, huh?"

"I…wanted to be more than just an assistant," she admitted. "And then he became infected, and…" She drew a shuddering breath, unable to finish her thought.

"Damn. I'm sorry." She glanced up to find him studying her. "I didn't mean to poke an old wound. You gonna be okay? Do you need me to take you home?"

"No," she replied with a shake of her head. "It was a long time ago; I guess I'm still recov-"

"What…is…the…mean…ing…of…this…?" Their conversation was interrupted by the loud complaint of another patron, and their attention was drawn to a large slow-speaking man at a nearby table. He was obviously an earlier-model reploid, as some of his body parts were clearly mechanical. Alia was surprised that such an old model would have a simulated digestive system.

"I'm sorry, sir!" Tray squeaked as she bowed repeatedly. "I must have mixed your order up with another! I'll fix it immediately!"

"You'll…do…" the reploid started to say, then his eyes widened, and he grabbed at his head. "What…are…you…doing…? …STOP!..."

"Sir, please calm down!" Tray cried out, nearly in tears. "I'll make it right, I promise!"

By that point the old reploid could no longer hear her. "NNNNNGGGGAAAAHHHHH!" he cried out, stumbling out of his chair to his feet. "What's…happen...ing…?"

"Oh, no…" Alia breathed.

"Wh-What's going on?" Max demanded, getting to his feet to head over to the distressed reploid. "Sir, please…let me-" He suddenly had to cartwheel to the side as their fellow patron took a swipe at him. "What the hell?"

Alia was at his side at an instant. "Max, he's…he's going maverick."

"What…?" Max breathed... "No…"

He started back toward the convulsing reploid, but Alia stopped him with a firm grip. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do to help him."

"Sigma?"

She nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry, but at this point the only thing we can do is…put him out of his misery."

Max uttered a stronger swear word as he watched the reploid start to grow in size, beginning to tower over the terrified waitress. "Alia, call whoever you need to…and get our server away from him." He reached up and over his shoulders, drawing two T-shaped handles from under the upper part of his coat. "I'll try to keep him busy until help arrives."

Alia's eyes widened as a beam of light extended from each of the handles; they looked remarkably like Zero's Z-Saber, only Max's blue beams were straight compared to Zero's green curved blade. "Max, you can't be serious!" she exclaimed, grabbing his arm. "You've never fought a maverick before, have you?"

"N-No," he said, and it was then that she realized that she could feel him shaking though her grip. "But a lot of people are going to be hurt if we don't do something. Now, please l-let go of me and call for backup."

She reluctantly obeyed and hurried over to grab their petrified server. "Hurry, ma'am!" she ordered, pulling on the girl's arm. "Help me get the others out of here!"

"We're going to die!" Tray wailed as she allowed herself to be dragged along by the navigator.

"Not as long as we keep our heads," Alia told her, taking her by the shoulders as they came to a stop. "Look at me! Grab everyone you can and bring them inside the building, do you understand?"

The server gulped as she nodded quickly.

"Good. Now, go!" Alia ordered, pointing. "You cover that side and I'll get the other."

"G-Got it!" Tray spun and hurried in the direction Alia had indicated.

Meanwhile, Max stood before Sigma's latest victim, unsure of what to do. The reploid had grown to the size of a small house, and its forearms had grown disproportionally large. They stared each other down briefly before the Maverick spoke: "Please…kill…me…"

"Wha-?" was all Max could get out before the Maverick roared, bringing its arms over its head and back down, clearly targeting Max's position.

He quickly rolled away and tried to counterattack, bringing one of his blades down on the maverick's oversized, partially-submerged arm. It roared again, pulling its arm from the ground to rub the darkened spot where Max had struck it. It then brought both of its arms over its head again, only this time it started to strike the ground repeatedly, causing tremors and setting off car alarms, as well as causing a few windows to shatter.

It also caused Max to lose his balance, falling on his butt and losing his grip on one of his swords. "Damn," he muttered as he rolled to retrieve his errant blade with a shaky hand. "This is going to be a real joy."

By the time he got back to his feet the giant maverick had its sights set on him again. "Please…stop…me…"

"I'm trying!" Max yelled as he reevaluated his unfortunate opponent. Fortunately, he'd been able to keep the thing's attention on himself, but he wasn't sure how long he'd be able to keep it distracted.

He saw an opening as he saw it raise its arms for another 'earthquake' move, and he charged forward to slice at one of the maverick's ankles and felt a sad sense of satisfaction as felt his blade sever something within. He then had to quickly roll away as the huge reploid started to fall forward, landing on its front and causing another tremor, this one considerably more intense than the first.

It roared again as it struggled to its feet, its oversized arms keeping it from recovering its center of balance.

As she watched the fight unfolding from the relative safely of the restaurant, Alia tapped the side of her head, activating her headset. "Alia to Maverick Hunter HQ; come in."

" _Signas here. Enjoying your date?"_

"Sort of, commander," the navigator replied as a frightened little boy attached himself to her leg. "I've just witnessed a reploid turn maverick. Requesting backup."

" _Acknowledged."_ A short pause, then: _"Backup is en route and will be at your position in approximately five minutes. Con you hold out that long?"_

"I'm not the one fighting, sir," she reported as the other patrons cried out in terror and held each other. "An armed civilian has engaged. I repeat; a civilian has engaged the maverick."

" _Acknowledged. Then let our hopes lie with this brave citizen."_

* * *

Max dropped to one knee, exhausted. Even though he had been battered around, his chest still swelled with a bit of regretful pride at the sight of the maverick's severed arm, twitching and sparking on the ground. He had managed to cut it off after another of the behemoth's belly flops. "And Zero and the others do this for a living?" he gasped as he watched the maverick struggle to its feet again.

It roared for the umpteenth time as it got itself upright again, only this time it turned its attention to the building where Alia and the others hid. It wobbled a bit as it walked, likely due to the imbalance caused by the missing limb.

"Like hell you will!" Max roared as well as he also struggled to his feet. "My girl's in there!" Unfortunately, he had already pushed himself beyond his limit and, like his opponent, struggled toward the threatened building. "Hey! Face me! I'm the one you want!"

The maverick ignored him and brought its remaining arm over its head. Before it could bring it down, however, a spherical blue projectile slammed into the monster's shoulder and Max gaped, wide-eyed, at the sight of X, riding in some kind of VTOL craft, with his arm cannon still pointed at the maverick.

"Are you all right?" an unfamiliar voice came from behind him, and Max allowed himself to collapse into white-gloved hands. "Don't worry; the two of us can take it from here."

"He's all yours," Max wheezed, still trying to catch his breath. "Just save them."

Zero helped him over to a nearby wall to lean him against it. "Thanks for your help," he said, then gave him a grin and a thumbs-up. "Don't let him get past this point, got it?"

"Got it," Max said, still breathing heavily. "And it's an honor to meet you, sir."

Zero nodded briskly before turning to dash toward the crippled maverick, drawing his Z-Saber as he moved.

Between the X-Buster and the Z-Saber, it didn't take long for the maverick to collapse in a cluster of explosions. Max had to fight back tears at the sight of his former fellow patron lying face-down, a smoking pile of metal and synthetic flesh.

"Maverick down! Maverick down! Maverick down!" X finally announced.

Having finally caught his breath, Max pushed himself from the wall and slowly made his way over to his fallen opponent.

"I'm sorry sir, but it's not safe here," a rookie hunter said, stepping into his path. "I'm afraid I need to ask-"

"Let him pass."

The rookie suddenly stood ramrod straight, saluting as Zero walked up. "Y-Yes sir, Commander Zero, sir!" He dropped the salute and stepped aside, opening Max's path to the corpse once again.

Max nodded at the rookie hunter before slowly heading toward the maverick again. He stopped just inches from the poor creature and knelt down to slowly reach out and lay his hand on its head.

He felt, more than heard or saw, Zero approach him from behind. "Are you okay, sir?" the hunter asked. "Do you need mechanical attention?"

Max ignored his question, gently caressing the head of the maverick as tears started to spill over his cheeks. "It's okay to cry, you know?" he said, his voice thin and shuddering.

"Sir?"

"Any senseless loss of life is worth grieving over," Max said, still caressing the maverick's head.

"I know," Zero replied in a low tone, his own voice heavy with emotion.

"Commander Zero!" another rookie ran up to the senior hunter with a computer tablet. "Your report has just been processed. Here is Commander Signas' response."

Max rose to his feet as Zero studied the results. Finally, the maverick hunter looked over at the other swordsman. "For what it's worth, he's been designated 'Seismic Sloth'," he reported quietly.

"That's great," Max replied numbly, turning to kneel back down by the fallen maverick. "What I want to know is: what was his real name?"

* * *

"He was soooooo brave!" the waitress gushed into the reporter's microphone as the cameras rolled. "Of course, the Maverick Hunters are awesome, right? But they do this kind of thing all the time! And to think that I was serving a hero!" she finished with a blush.

Max sat not too far away, his head resting on his arms, propped up on his bent knees. He was close enough to hear the interview, but still far enough away that it would be hard to her to see him.

"Max?" Alia sat down next to him and held out a tall glass filled with a semi-clear liquid. "It's tea, compliments of the restaurant."

He chuckled humorlessly as he accepted the beverage. "Thanks. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she replied. "I've dealt with Maverick attacks before, but…this was your first time, so…"

He ran his fingers roughly through his hair several times. "I've just…never killed anyone before. Or anything. Except maybe flies," he finished, looking toward the corpse again.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with this," Alia said consolingly.

"It's fine," he grunted. "It'll just take some…some time."

"Alia!" The pair looked up to see Layer and Palette hurrying toward them. "Are you all right?" the smaller navigator wailed as she launched herself at her senior. "We were so worried about you!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Alia laughed as she tried to pry the reploid-sized accessory from her torso. "After we're done being debriefed, I'll be walking Max home."

"That won't be necessary," Max announced as he got to his feet. "I…need some time alone, anyway."

"Are you certain?" Layer asked. "The three of us would be willing to-"

"No…thank you," Max interrupted with a hand. "As much as I like the idea of being escorted by three lovely ladies, I need to be alone for a while."

"Then we should help you get on your way," a new voice announced.

"Commander!" The navigators quickly lined up before their commanding officer and saluted.

"As you were," Signas ordered, "with the exception of you, Palette; I expect proper decorum when on duty. Off duty, you may 'glomp' on your friends to your heart's content."

"Yes, sir," Palette giggled.

"Citizen," Signas intoned as he directed his attention to Max. "I understand that the Maverick Hunters owe you a debt of gratitude."

"Sir!" Max barked, as he hopped to his feet and saluted to the best of his ability.

The tall reploid gave a rarely-heard chuckle. "Please; you are not under my command and, as such, do not need to salute me. Quite the contrary, it is I who should salute you." Matching actions to words, Signas snapped his hand up, barely touching the brim of his 'hat'.

"I'm just glad I could help," Max replied, awkwardly matching the commander's movements. "Sorry I couldn't do more."

"You saved a lot of people with your actions," Alia said as he moved to Max's side to take his arm. "Humans and reploids."

"I'm just glad I could help," Max replied again, not sure what else to say. "So, you needed to talk to me?"

"Indeed," Signas said, gesturing to the restaurant. "Perhaps we could take a table in there?"

"Sounds good to me," Max replied.


	4. Fandom

**Chapter Four: Fandom**

"No, ma'am; we do not have a Hunter by that name," the red-haired reploid at the front desk replied with an irritated tone as Alia entered Maverick Hunter HQ. "Yes, have a good day."

"What's wrong, Shortwave?" Alia asked as she approached the overwhelmed receptionist.

She waved a white-gloved hand at the phone, which had started ringing again. "It's been ringing off the hook this morning, with people – girls, mostly – asking about a Maverick Hunter named 'Max'."

Alia giggled in spite of a little jealousy. "He's the reploid who held off Seismic Sloth until X and the others arrived."

"So that's who they're talking about…" Shortwave said. "From what I've been hearing from these calls, he sounds like quite a guy."

"Yeah," Alia said, her eyes losing focus as a smile tickled her face. "He was really brave out there, fighting such a large Maverick while so inexperienced."

Shortwave shot to her feet. "Wait, you were there? You saw him fight?"

"Huh?" Alia blinked, jarred from her memories. "Oh, uh…yeah. I watched through the restaurant window."

"Pooh," the redhead pouted. "And I was stuck watching highlights at home."

"He felt really bad for the maverick," Alia told her. "Even though he wasn't the one to kill it, I could tell it broke his heart to see it die. He was there when it changed, and it was one of our fellow guests, after all."

"Aw, poor guy," Shortwave said sympathetically. "It's hard enough for veteran hunters, but for a civvie… Is he doing okay?"

"I'm not sure," Alia admitted. "I haven't seen him since then. After the battle was over, Commander Signas debriefed him, then sent him on his way."

"Alone?"

"That's what Max wanted," the pink-clad navigator said. "Layer, Palette and I offered to walk him home, but he politely declined."

"A guy with a big heart…" the receptionist mused. "Not many of those anymore."

"No kidding," Alia said. "Listen; if he calls, please let him through. And if he comes in, please let me know."

"Of course!" she chirped. "Hey, you said that the maverick was one of 'our fellow guests', right?"

"That's right; what about it?"

Shortwave gave her a catty look. "Were you on a daaaaate, Alia?"

"W-With Max, yes." Even though she hadn't tried to keep it a secret, it was still awkward to talk about. "Wh-Why do you ask?"

"Luuuuuckyyyyy…" Shortwave whined. "Palette has Axl, and Layer almost has Zero…we figured you'd end up with X."

"X? Wait, 'we'?"

"Of course! After all, all the other Navigators are so close to their Hunters, so of course…" she finished with a shrug and a knowing look.

"But…I've never really thought of X that way!" Alia exclaimed.

"Really?" the short reploid said, rubbing her hands together. "Then maybe there's still a chance…"

"Ugh," While Alia understood the desire to pair-bond, she'd never made it her central focus the way that Palette and Layer…and, apparently, Shortwave did. Even when she'd been interested in Gate, she wasn't the type to go all 'goo-goo eyes' about it. "I'm out of here; I've got work, anyway."

"Right!" Shortwave chirped as she waved Alia off. "Have a great day, and I'll let you know if Maaaax calls!" She then turned back to her perpetually ringing phone with her fists on her hips. "Humph; maybe I should just link in directly and answer all the calls at once…"

Alia chuckled to herself as she entered the elevator. As it ascended, she allowed herself to think about her admirer. He wasn't like other men, human or reploid, that was for sure. When it came to romance, "He just offers himself and lets the chips fall where they may," she mused. "It's like he's on an adventure, and he wants someone who'll join him on it." With her background in research, she knew that she could fill the bill. "But do I want to 'fill the bill'?" she thought out loud again, then giggled to herself. "That sounds like something Max would ask."

She stepped out of the elevator as the doors opened, only to nearly run into Commander Signas. "Oh! Sorry, sir! I was lost in thought."

"Are you all right, Navigator?" he asked with concern in his eyes. "You're four minutes and twenty-three seconds late."

"I was held up at the front desk just long enough. I'm sorry, sir; it's not Shortwave's fault."

"I understand," he replied. "Please take your station; X is already en route to engage another Maverick."

"On it, sir." Alia sighed as she hurried to her console, wondering if Sigma's presence would ever be truly wiped out. She quickly donned her headset and hit the 'connect' button.

" _X here."_

"Sor-" Alia briefly faltered as she remembered Shortwave's words of hope from earlier.

" _Alia?"_

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Alia finally managed as she shifted to her professional demeanor. "According to my information here," she said as she consulted the relevant feed, "you're in pursuit of the maverick designated 'Volt Jackrabbit'."

" _Didn't I already fight someone with that designation? 'Volt' something?"_

"Volt Catfish," the navigator replied easily. Allowing herself a slight grin she added, "What can I say? We only have so many words for referring to electricity."

" _And water."_

"And…Hold on, it looks like Zero's been assigned to 'Rage Lion', a fire-based maverick."

" _That's new. Anyway, can you tell me anything about my target?"_

"He used to be a courier for Repliforce, but quit when they rebelled."

" _For all the good_ _that_ _did him. Anyway, thanks. Listen, I'm coming up on a spike-filled area, so I'll need some 'serious time'."_

"I see it. Contact me if you need to, X. Otherwise, I'm muting my end."

" _Understood. Going silent."_

Alia leaned back in her chair and sighed. She turned the volume up from X's feed and allowed herself to think about Max. "I hope he's doing okay," she muttered, thinking out loud yet again. "I'd really like to see him again. Is he working on his research…?" She smiled softly as she imagined him working away at a computer or reading from a huge stack of books. Of course, she hadn't seen him study yet, but…. "I'd really like to see that," she sighed. "I'd like to do that with him…"

She leaned forward, resting her arms on her console, one of her fingers absently tapping away. "And the way he tried to help that poor maverick…and then had to fight it." For the first time in her existence, she sighed with a dreamy smile on her face.

" _ALIA!"_

"Wh-What?" she stammered, snapping out of her reverie to umute her comm. "What is it, X?"

" _Would you_ _please_ _stop tapping the 'connect' button! My right audio receptor's starting to ring!"_

She looked down and, sure enough, her finger had been absently tapping the 'connect' button. "I'm sorry, X! I was thinking about something else, and…"

" _Max?"_

"Y-Yeah…"

No response.

"X?"

" _I'm coming up on what appears to be the door to the Maverick Chamber. Going silent."_

"Good luck, X. And sorry about your receptor." Alia muted her end again and, giving the buttons on her console a wide berth, rested her hands on the console and allowed herself to replay the memory of Max fighting the maverick…

* * *

"Looks like you've got the Lightning Dash," Alia reported after X dispatched the unfortunate former courier. "We'll run a full analysis when you get back, but it looks like you'll be able to dash through enemies, damaging them as you go."

" _Sounds good. See you shortly. X out."_

Alia muted her microphone and leaned back in her chair. Other than her accidental overload of X's audio, the operation was a flawless success.

"So, how'd it go?" a voice chirped mere inches from her ear.

Alia nearly leaped out of her chair at the sudden intrusion. "Palette, you startled me!"

"Sorry!" the junior navigator said, her expression showing anything but regret. "How did X's mission go?"

"Well, other than a mistake on my part, everything went fine. Maverick defeated and weapon obtained."

"Mistake?" Layer asked, joining the conversation. "What did you do?"

Alia looked back down at her console with an embarrassed smile. "I…was a little distracted during 'serious time' and ended up tapping the 'contact' button repeatedly."

"Ouch," Palette said sympathetically. "That must have been awkward."

"And likely painful for X," Layer added. "Is he okay?"

"I think so," the senior navigator replied. "After I stopped, he didn't say anything more about it. I'll make sure he visits Lifesaver after he gets back, though. How about Zero?"

Layer's face turned scarlet in an instant. "He…did wonderfully, as always."

"Seriously, Layer; when are you going to ask him out?" Palette asked in an uncharacteristically non-teasing tone.

"I…I can't," the tall navigator shuddered. "I could barely speak to him when he returned from his missions during the Jakob's Ladder incident."

"Well, you might want to hurry," Alia warned. "I just found out this morning that Shortwave's looking for a partner. She'll probably put her sights on X, but…"

"…maybe she'll go after Zero!" Palette chimed in. "She's short, and cute, and redheaded… OOO! Alia! You think Zero might be into redheads? Red seems to be his color, after all!"

"P-Palette!" Layer stammered, her face starting to pale as one of her hands went to her chest. "P-Please…"

Palette's smile faded as quickly as her coworker's complexion. "Oh…L-Layer…? I…I'm sorry. I went too far, didn't I?"

"I think you've been 'going too far' for while, now," Alia remarked as she rose from her chair. "Let's cool off in the Rec Room while we wait for Zero and X to return."

"Y-Yeah…" Palette said as she dropped her gaze to the floor.

As they headed out of the Command Center and down the hall to the RR, Alia and Palette cast worried glances at Layer, as well as each other.

* * *

" _Navigator Alia; you have a visitor at the front desk…"_ the three friends looked up at the sound of Shortwave's voice coming from the PA system. _"I repeat: Aaaaaaliaaaaaaa, he's heeeeeere…"_

"Max?" Alia blurted, bolting upright in her seat where she'd been drinking tea with the other navigators. "He's here?!" She quickly turned to her friends. "Do I look okay?"

Her friends shared a warm smile before looking to their friend. "You look fine," Palette said encouragingly.

"Besides, he's seen you in your work attire, remember?" Layer added, having calmed down considerably.

"Th-That's true," the senior navigator replied as she worked on her hair.

"Get out of here, chief," Palette said, nudging Alia's shoulder. "He's waiting for you."

"Y-Yeah." Alia rose onto anxious legs and hurried out the Rec Room door. She smoothed her hands over the front of her uniform as she speedwalked to the elevator. "I hope he's doing okay," she worried aloud. "Right, he must be okay or he wouldn't be coming here…"

She continued to mumble to herself as the elevator descended, taking her down to the ground floor and the main reception area. When the doors opened to reveal the entrance to Maverick Hunter HQ, she felt the artificial blood drain from her face.

Max was there, all right…with Shortwave barely inches from him. From the way she was talking as well as his posture, it looked like she was peppering him with questions.

Sure enough, as she got closer: "'So, what do you like about Alia? Are you going on another date with her? I know I've said this already, but you were soooo brave fighting that Maverick! I saw it on TV, and-"

"H-Hello, Max," Alia greeted; in spite of her quiet tone, it was still enough to shut up the hyperactive receptionist.

"Hey," he replied shyly. "Sorry for not talking to you for so long."

There was an awkward silence…until the receptionist piped up again. "Well, I'll leave you to your conversation. If anyone needs me, I'll be at my desk…four feet away."

Alia blinked, glancing at Shortwave before returning her gaze to Max. "Could we talk outside for a bit?"

He nodded with a sigh of relief. "That's what I was hoping for."

The pair was quiet as they left Maverick Hunter HQ and headed to a grassy area in front of the gigantic building.

They approached a bench but neither of them sat, Max leaning against the back of it while Alia stood before him with her hands clasped. "How…are you?" he started somewhat lamely.

"I'm…okay. How about you?"

"Better."

"That's good."

"Thanks."

They both stood there for what seemed like forever, Alia watching Max as he rubbed the back of his neck, scratched at his head and, finally, crossed his arms to look at her. "Look, I'm sorry for being gone for so long; I guess it hit me more than I thought it would."

"I think I understand," Alia said softly.

"I guess I feel bad partly because I didn't check on how you were doing after all that," he said, looking to the ground. "I don't think that's how a man's supposed to be."

"How is a man supposed to be?"

"I dunno. I keep turning it over and over in my head, replaying what happened after the fight, and…" He brought his head up to fix her with his gaze. "I think it's okay for a man to do what I did; I was pretty out of my league, after all."

"You were in shock," Alia said quietly. "I believe that you did your best, and many people were saved thanks to your courage." She paused to consider a thought. "In fact, I think that your courage was what made you a man in that situation."

"You're probably right," he admitted. "Thanks."

"Max, I don't think men are supposed to be perfect," Alia suggested. "You're supposed to be strong and brave, of course, but you don't have to be invincible or anything like that." She took a step closer to him. "The fact that you're concerned and wanting to learn from the situation says a lot about how good a man you are."

He looked up abruptly. "You really think so?"

She nodded solemnly as she tapped the ground with her boot. "I'll admit that I don't what it's like to be a man, but if men and women are supposed to complement each other, then neither of them could be perfect to begin with, right? Otherwise one would never need the other or even want to get together."

He barked a laugh as he clapped a hand against the side of his neck. "Man, I never thought of that; how embarrassing."

She was about to take another step toward him when he suddenly pushed himself from the park bench to put a hand on her shoulder. "You're an amazing woman, Alia, you know that?" He appeared to study her blushing face for a few moments, then: "Would…Would you be willing to join me on my journey? My journey for truth?"

"M-Max?" Her hands flew to her mouth as she took a stumbling step back, his hand dropping from her shoulder. "A-Are you asking me to be your g-girlfriend?"

"Am I?" Max seemed genuinely surprised by the question and took a minute to turn the idea over in his mind. "Heh… I never thought of it that way, but… Yeah, I guess I am." He took another step toward her and held out his hand. "So, what do you say?"

She looked at his hand cautiously, as though she had never seen one before. But…a hand wasn't just a means for holding onto tools or manipulate objects in time and space, it was…a means for bonding with another as well. After all, if one held hands with another, they had to stand beside the other, to come alongside each another. Did she want to come alongside Max on his journey for truth? Did she want to 'fill the bill'?

She reached out a shaky and laid it on his. "I-I'd love to, M-Max," she replied, wiping away an overflow of eye lubricant from her cheek.

* * *

"OHMYGAWD!" Palette squealed after Alia had finished telling her story. "That was better than any romance story I've ever read! Or dreamed about!"

"I'm so happy for you, Alia," Layer said as evenly as she could, but the emotion in her voice was still unmistakable. "I believed that the two of you would end up together, but…the way it played out was certainly…unique."

"I knoooowwww…" Palette crooned. "It's kinda cute how he didn't even realize that he was asking you to be his girl!" she giggled. "How like a guy!"

"Not necessarily," Layer said. "Max has shown to have a…unique way of looking at things. It's not unreasonable that he would fail to make the connection. He was thinking in terms of research, after all; it's just that it was clearly important to him that Alia be a part of that."

"And I'm sooooo happy for you!" Palette squealed again, giving her senior a hug. "Did you plan another date or anything?"

"We're going to the amusement park a week from Saturday," Alia informed them.

"Not to be rude, but isn't that geared more toward children?" Layer asked.

"No way!" Palette countered, in full Hyperdrive. "Amusement parks are for everyone, for all ages! You're never too old for the amusement park."

"I think I understand," Layer conceded. "I have seen families on their way to one; I suppose I unconsciously assumed that they were going for the benefit of the children. Thank you, Palette."

"Y-You're welcome," Palette said, surprised by the show of gratitude. "Wow, I never thought you'd be thanking me for something."

"Stranger things have happened," Alia quipped with an impish grin.

"Now we just need to hook you up with Zero, and we'll all be happy!" Palette exclaimed, starting to work herself up again.

"Y-Yeah," the tall reploid replied, delicately tugging at her collar. "I-I look forward to it."


	5. Library Lunch

**Chapter Five: Library Lunch**

"So, you're coming up on Stealth Zebra," Alia announced as she studied her console. "As his name implies, he's able to make himself effectively invisible at will. At this time, we don't know what weapons he employs."

" _Do we know anything about his former life?"_ X asked as he navigated the area.

"All we know is that he was an experiment in stealth technology," Alia replied. "If my records are correct, he turned Maverick on his first mission."

" _Sounds deliberate to me."_

"I was thinking the same thing. Unfortunately, that doesn't change our mission."

" _I know, but I'm still tired of killing Mavericks. I'm coming up on the doors. Going silent."_

"Good luck, X." Alia muted her end of the comm and waited. As usual, she'd gathered all the information she could, analyzed the area to help him get an idea of what his opponent could do, and communicated it to X as quickly and briefly as possible. After he passed through the double doors to the Maverick's lair it was up to him to wisely use the information he'd been given. Alia hated the waiting, as X had needed to emergency-teleport back several times in the past, which was very distressing to the veteran navigator. She tried to busy herself by checking on Axl's progress. While Palette was his specific navigator, each of them was able to monitor the progress of others, though they were not allowed to interrupt the line. "They assigned him to Chase Cheetah, huh?" she mused. "It'll be interesting to see what he comes away with from-"

A quiet tone sounded through her headset, which she recognized as being from the front desk, so she switched the line. "This is Alia."

" _Aaaaaaliiiiaaaa…."_ Shortwave's voice teased. _"Maaax is on the line. Can you take his call?"_

The senior navigator's breath caught in her throat. "C-Could you ask him to hold for a minute? X is fighting a Maverick right now."

" _Ooo! Which one?"_

"Stealth Zebra."

" _How's he doing? N-Never mind, I'll ask Max to hold."_

"Thanks." Alia ended the communication and shifted her attention to her console just in time for X to beep in, and she quickly unmuted her end of the line. "X?"

" _Maverick down, Alia,"_ he replied in a tired voice.

She checked his status on her console. "Looks like he gave you quite the challenge."

" _Yeah."_

"From what I can tell, you've got the Stripe Shot; It fires three-way projectiles."

" _I'm sure I'll get the full rundown when I get back."_

"Right," she said with a smile. "See you when you return. Alia out."

" _X out."_

She sighed as she leaned back in her seat…and saw the 'communication pending' light flashing. "Max!" she yelped as she dove for the button. "Th-This is-I mean, hi, Max!"

" _Heeeyyyy!"_ his voice greeted warmly. _"It's good to hear you again."_

"Y-You, too," she stammered, remembering that they were a couple.

" _Sorry to bother you at work, but I was hoping we could meet up during lunch today. They_ _do_ _let you out for that, don't they?"_

"Th-They do," she said as she tried to slow her power cycles. "Where did you want to meet?"

" _I was thinking Central Library, if that's not too far."_

"Well no, but…last I knew, they were still rebuilding it."

" _They finished it the day before yesterday. I was planning on heading there by myself, but I thought you might like to come along."_

"I…I would," she admitted. "What time?"

" _Would 12:15 work for you? My lunch is from noon to one, so I thought we could meet, eat and read for about half an hour, then head back to work."_

Alia smiled softly; how like him to want to spend their time together reading. "That sounds fine. What will we be studying?"

" _Well…"_ He sounded sheepish, causing Alia's smile to broaden. " _…I've been working on male/female dynamics. You know…because…"_

"That sounds wonderful," she politely interrupted, mainly to protect his dignity. "Central Library at 12:15. I'm looking forward to it."

" _M-Me, too. See you later, then."_

"See you later, Max," she said fondly before ending the call. She then fisted her hands under her chin, kicking her legs as she squealed softly.

"You seem excited," came a new voice, and Alia looked up into the face of her CO.

"I'm meeting with Max at the library, sir," Alia reported, then her face fell. "Unless… you need me during Rest Period?"

Signas showed a rare smile as he almost imperceptibly shook his head. "Enjoy your time together, Alia."

"Thank you sir," she replied, trying desperately to not blush like a schoolgirl.

Her commander's smile spread ever so slightly as he turned to move away. "And give Max my regards, if you would."

"Y-Yes, sir."

* * *

Alia shifted her weight from foot to foot as she waited in front of the city's main library. She had never been the type to be nervous about anything – other than during Sigma's attacks, of course – but she found herself anxious, unsure of how to act. After all, she'd never been in a relationship like the one she had started with Max. Was there a way she was supposed to look? A certain way she was supposed to act toward her new…boyfriend?

"There you are!" she jumped at the sudden intrusion, but found that the voice belonged to her new…boyfriend. "Sorry; had to use…well…sorry."

"It's okay," she said, licking her lips. "I thought I was late."

He glanced at his wrist as he headed down the short staircase toward her. "Not at all. You ready?"

She simply nodded with a smile, not quite trusting her words.

"Great!" he said with a smile of his own. As they headed back up the stairs he said, "I haven't looked around at all; I only got here a few minutes ago myself."

"I understand," she said as he opened the door for her. "At least we can look forward to looking together, right?"

"Right," he replied, and she could hear the warmth in his tone. "That is something to look forward to."

As they headed into the library proper, he jerked his chin to their right, where what appeared to be a food counter stood, serving customers. "Let's see what they have that's easy to eat, okay?"

"Sure," she replied. "That's weird, though; I've heard of mini-restaurants in bookstores, but never in a library."

"First time for everything, huh?" he quipped. "Yeah, I was surprised to see that, too. Maybe they're trying to modernize?"

"I could see that," she admitted. "I'd be worried about getting food on the older books, though."

He shrugged. "Well, it's their business. I'll just make sure to not get any stuff on the books myself."

"Same here," Alia agreed.

They headed to the counter, and Max paid for sandwiches made out of pocket bread, as well as chips and tea for each of them.

"Could you get some napkins?" he requested as he balanced two lunches in his hands. "Or lots of napkins, really. Anyway, my hands are kinda busy."

"S-Sure," she giggled. "Where do you want to sit? I could find you."

"Thanks," he grunted as he adjusted his grip on a sandwich, and then indicated the middle of the library with his forehead. "I'll be over that way."

"O-Okay," she giggled again.

As she headed over to retrieve the napkins, she realized that she had been giggling a lot more lately. Her smile faded as she allowed herself to think about why. She was sure it had to do with Max, but…what was it, in particular, that made her so giggly around him. "Well," she thought out loud, "he's fun to be around… and I think that's because he's not like anyone I've ever met before. He…accepts me for who I am, but still challenges me to grow." Her smile started to return. "Of course, he challenges himself more than anyone, though. It's just who he is." She blinked out of her train of thought to see that she had emptied nearly half the napkin bin, and other customers were starting to give her concerned looks. "Oh! Sorry!" she squeaked before holding up the bundle in her hand. "A-Anyone need a napkin?"

* * *

"There we go," Max grunted as he carefully placed one of the drink cups on the table. "This was harder than I thought it would-" The lunches suddenly disappeared from his hands only to appear, nicely spread out, on the table before him "What the…"

"Hi!" chirped a semi-familiar voice.

"Hey, it's…" He struggled to recall a name. "…you."

A young-looking female reploid with long, brown hair and a twinkle in her equally brown eyes grinned back. "I'm Tray! I was your server when-"

"That's right!" Max exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "I remember now! Sorry about that; it was kind of a rough ride after that."

"I'll bet," she said as she rose up onto her tiptoes a couple of times. "How have you been? I've been thinking about you since then."

"You have? W-Well, that's kind." He looked back down at the meals on the table. "Did you do that?"

"Yup!" she chirped. "I thought I recognized you, saw you having trouble, and wanted to help." She hopped on her tiptoes again. "Are you here with a friend?"

Max started to look back toward the lunch counter. "Yeah, she's-ah! There you are!"

"Sorry to take so long," Alia blushed as she joined them with a handful of napkins. "I grabbed too many, and…" She then noticed that they had company. "Max, who's this?"

"She was our waitress when…you know…"

"It's soooo good to see you again!" Tray gushed as she moved to hug Alia, who quickly backed away. "I was sooo worried after Professor Donnelly…well…"

"That was his name? Donnelly?" Max asked, perking up. "That was that reploid's name?"

"Y-Yeah," the girl replied, surprised by his sudden intensity. "Professor Donnelly. He taught at a local university. I'll miss him."

"Professor Donnelly…" Max repeated as his eyes briefly lost focus before he returned his gaze to Tray. "Thank you for telling me; not knowing his name has been bothering me ever since I had to fight him."

"But why would you need to know his name?" Tray asked. "From what I've heard, if one of us goes maverick we lose our prior identity."

Max worked his jaw as he took a deep breath. "Because…he was more than just a maverick. He was a victim. He had a life. He was somebody, and his life should mean more than what he was forced to do at the end of it."

"Y-You're right!" exclaimed Tray, with tears forming. "He was a really nice man who was always kind to me! How could I forget all that?"

"Might be a coping mechanism," Alia suggested.

"Huh?" Tray blinked, as though she had forgotten that the navigator was there. "Oh! Yeah, you could be right!" She shook her head vigorously. "Anyway, what brings you to the library today?"

"We're having lunch while researching," Max replied.

"What are you researching?" Tray asked eagerly, moving closer to Max, much to Alia's alarm.

"Male/female relationships," Max replied as Alia took her seat. "Since Alia and I got together, I've been wanting a better understanding of-"

"I'm sorry," the brown-haired reploid interrupted. "Did you say you two got together?"

"That's right," Max answered with a smile. "It was kinda funny, actually; I didn't realize it at the time, but I was basically asking her to be my girl."

"He phrased it as wanting me to join him in his 'journey for truth'," Alia added as she studied the younger reploid. "I liked the idea and agreed."

"Oh." For a moment, Tray looked lost. "Well, good for you! I'm happy for the both of you! C-Congratulations!"

"Thanks," he replied, trying not to blush.

"Max?" Alia said, her gaze still on the serving girl. "She's not telling the truth."

"Alia, that's no way to talk to someone we hardly know," Max scolded lightly before addressing Tray. "I'm sorry, miss; I don't know what's… What's wrong?"

Tray was blushing madly, her eyes darting every direction but at him. "N-Nothing."

"Another lie," Alia said. "Trust me; part of my job involves recognizing this kind of thing."

"So are you saying she's not happy for us?" Max demanded before looking to Tray again. "Is she right?"

The girl said nothing but nodded, still unable to look him in the eye.

"Max," Alia started, "if you're concerned about the truth, now's a good time to practice seeking it."

"Please, ma'am," Tray whimpered, "I didn't mean any harm. Honest."

"I believe you," Alia said, sighing. "And I'm sorry for coming on so strong. I'll admit that I'm probably just jealous."

"Jealous? Of what?" Max asked.

Alia smiled softly at him before directing her attention to Tray. "Ma'am? Max is on a journey for truth. Would you help him by sharing some with him?" she finished with a meaningful expression.

The brown-haired girl looked like she wanted to run but, to Alia's surprise, a determined expression replaced her previous panicked one. "I'm sorry for lying, sir. The truth is…it makes me sad that the two of you are together."

"How come?" Max asked.

Tray took a deep breath. "When I saw you fighting Profess-the maverick, I thought you were so brave, and I was hoping to find you and…and…ask you on a date."

Max blinked. "R-Really?" He glanced over to Alia, who simply smiled. "W-Well…I really don't know what to say... Thanks?"

"It's okay," Tray replied, her typical perky disposition making a return. "It feels good just admitting it." She looked over to Alia. "You're a very lucky girl; please treat him right."

"Th-Thanks," Alia blinked. "I'll do my best. And I sincerely hope that you find the right man for you."

"I'll second that," Max said, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You seem like a nice girl who deserves the best."

"Th-Thanks!" she chirped. "You'll see; I'll find a great guy!"

"Do your best, then," Max said while sharing a smile with Alia.

"That turned out better than I thought it would," Alia admitted as the young reploid skipped away.

"Hey, Alia…" Max said with a sheepish grin, "…sorry for being so dense."

"Don't worry about it," she replied with a fond smile. "Just chalk it up as part of the learning process."

"Right," he said as he took his seat, glancing up at the wall clock. "Aw, crud; we've used up ten minutes already."

"If it helps, I think it was well-spent," Alia offered. "You learned a little bit on how women act, didn't you?"

His face brightened. "Hey, that's true! I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, though. I guess I'll file it away for the time being. Anyway, do you want to grab some books or data chips, or should we eat first?"

"Maybe we could schedule research for another time," Alia suggested. "We really didn't give ourselves too much time to start with, and I don't see us getting too deep into anything before we'll have to leave."

"Yeah," he sighed. "That's too bad; I was looking forward to studying with you."

"Y-You were?" Alia stuttered, trying to distract her suddenly-trembling hands with her sandwich.

"Well, yeah. That was the whole reason I wanted to do this in the first place," he said, picking up his own sandwich. "I could have come by myself, but I thought it'd be more fun with you."

"Are you free this Saturday?" she blurted before she could stop herself.

He chuckled awkwardly. "I…could, but…"

"If you're working that day, I understand of course, it's just that-"

"No, no," he interrupted, waving his hands. He bobbed his head slightly a few times, bashful expression still in place. "It's just that…Saturday's the day I work on my fighting skills."

"All day?"

"Sort of. I spend part of the day practicing unarmed, part of it with my swords, and the other part meditating." His expression darkened. "I really needed that after fighting the professor."

"You meditate?" Alia had never heard of a reploid meditating, so this was new.

Max finished his bite before answering. "Well, yeah; I think meditation's good for everyone. What, you've never tried it?"

She shook her head. "No, it's never occurred to me to try."

He gestured at her with his sandwich before quickly withdrawing it with an apologetic look. "You should try it sometime; it might help you with any stress you might have from work."

"I'll…keep that in mind," she said. How advanced a reploid was Max, anyway? He seemed the most human-like of any reploid she knew about. "What about meeting here on Friday after work?"

"Unfortunately, that won't work," he said. "The place closes at five, and I get off at six. I checked the sign on the way in."

"That's too bad," Alia said while trying to ignore a nagging feeling.

"At least we have the amusement park to look forward to," he pointed out as he gazed into her eyes.

"Absolutely," she agreed as her internal temperature rose slightly.

* * *

They walked back to Maverick Hunter HQ side-by-side; they weren't quite comfortable yet with the idea of holding hands, but they still enjoyed each others' company.

"Sorry I didn't plan enough time for study," Max said as they stood outside the giant structure. "I guess I was so excited about spending time with you that I didn't think everything through."

"Thanks, Max; that means a lot to me," Alia said bashfully while looking up at him from under her eyelashes. "For what it's worth, I think it was time well spent."

"Thanks." He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Well, talk to you later."

Alia watched him head back to work before turning and floating back into Maverick Hunter HQ.


	6. Parked

**Chapter Six: Parked**

Max smiled, lifting a hand in greeting as he approached Alia, who stood at their preplanned meeting spot in front of the bus station. "Hey! Am I late?"

"Not at all," she replied. "I got here a little early myself."

"You look fantastic," he said. "It looks like you're wearing the outfit from Ginny's place, but…something's different."

"It's-"

"Hold on," he interrupted with a hand. "Let me try to figure it out."

"Okay." She then spent the next minute blushing self-consciously as he looked her up and down.

Finally, his gaze settled on her hair. "Hey, you're wearing a bow, aren't you?"

She absently reached up to touch the white decoration that Palette had tied in her hair that morning. "Is it okay? Do you like it?"

"I love it!" he exclaimed. "Your hair normally looks awesome, but the bow…I don't know, it adds something to it, somehow."

"It was Palette's idea," Alia admitted as they headed toward their stop. "She came up with the idea, but I'm the one who picked this bow."

"See? You have an instinct about your beauty, and you went with it," he said, giving her a sidelong smile.

"Th-Thank you," she blushed.

"So, are there any rides you want to go on in particular? Or anything we should stay away from?"

She enjoyed the feeling of her hair waving as she shook her head. "I don't know yet; I've never been to an amusement park before."

"Seriously? Huh," he grunted as they boarded the bus. "Now that you mention it, it's been a few years since I've been to one myself."

"Why is that?"

He shrugged as they took their seats. "I dunno. I think it's because I got so caught up in my studies. They're their own kind of fun, you know?"

She'd never thought of it that way and admitted as such. "Now that I look back upon it, research was pretty fun."

"You see?" he said with a grin.

She couldn't help but giggle at his enthusiasm before turning more serious. "Listen, Max; are you okay after…you know, then?"

She didn't mean to take his smile away, but it faded nonetheless. "For the most part, yeah. I think the main thing is that I'd never seen anyone die before, so…it was kinda shocking."

"I'm so sorry you had to deal with that."

She was relieved to see his smile return. "I think, all things considered, I'm fine. Honestly, I'm surprised I did as well as I did. I mean, Zero and the gang do this for a living, and I'm just some guy who plays with knives."

"I wouldn't call them 'knives'," she said, remembering his weapons of choice. "Where did you get your swords, anyway? Did someone custom-build them for you?"

"Yeah; I did," he said proudly. "I read up on the tech and made them myself." His eyes lost focus at the memories. "It took about…two years? Two-and-a-half?" He looked back at her. "It took a really long time."

She giggled again as the bus came to a stop. "We've got a while before it's our stop," he noted as more people boarded the bus.

"It's getting pretty crowded," Alia noted as even more people got on.

Max suddenly got to his feet. "Here, ma'am; you can sit here," he said indicating his former seat to an elderly woman.

"Thank you, young man," she rasped as she hobbled over to the couple. He then helped her into the seat next to Alia. "Oh, it's not as easy to get around as it used to."

"Do you live far from the bus station?" Max asked.

She fixed him with her gaze. "At my age, I live too far from everything. Now, it looks like you're on a date with this lovely young lady, so you don't need to bother yourself with this old relic."

"Relics are valuable, ma'am," Max countered as politely as he could. "Relics can reveal great knowledge and wisdom about our past, which can help us with the present as well as the future. They're treasures."

The elderly woman stared up at him for several seconds in disbelief. Then, her lower lip started to quiver as she reached into her purse.

"Ma'am?" Alia asked, worried. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, sweetheart," she replied as she dabbed at her eyes. "I just haven't heard such beautiful words spoken in such a long time. Thank you, young man."

Max ducked his head meekly. "I-I'm glad if I've brightened your day."

"Oh, you have," the senior said as Alia studied him fondly.

They came to the next stop, and the woman started to her feet. Max immediately offered his hand, which she gratefully took. "Wherever you're going, you two have a lovely time," she said just before getting off the bus.

"That was really sweet of you," Alia said as he reclaimed his former seat.

"She was someone's grandmother," he said, shrugging. "And someone's mother, someone's wife and maybe someone's sister." He smiled over at her. "Each of us has value, you know?"

Alia found herself smiling at him in spite of the optical lubricant threatening to overflow.

* * *

"Ugh, finally!" Max grunted, stretching as they stood outside the entrance to the amusement park. "I should've stood for more of the trip; my joints are a little stiff."

"That was uncomfortable after a while," Alia agreed. "I'm glad to be on my feet again."

"Well, we're young," he remarked. "We're not supposed to be sitting around all the time."

She smiled, slightly relieved that he didn't know what part of her job entailed.

"So, let's go!" He got out the tickets and held out his hand. "If you're okay with it…"

She studied his hand briefly before taking it in her own. "I'm okay with it."

He led her up to the ticket booth and took care of entry. "So, what do you want to do first?" he asked as they passed through the turnstiles, entering the park proper.

"I'm…not sure. Like I said, I've never been to one of these before."

He pointed up to a bridge they were about to pass under. "Well, there's a train that runs around the whole park; we could ride that first, and you could see if anything catches your eye. To be honest, most of the rides are forms of merry-go-rounds and roller coasters. You…know what those are, right?"

She was about to lightly scold him for teasing her, but when she saw the awkward expression on his face, she realized that he was being serious. She had said she'd never been to an amusement park, after all… "I…I know what those are, yes."

"Okay. Just…wanted to be sure."

She smiled affectionately at him, pleasantly surprised by his attention to detail as well as his concern for her. "Thanks, Max. I think that's a great idea…the train, I mean."

"The train? Oh! Right, this way then." He gently tugged on her hand, eventually leading her to a hut, in front of which was a decent-sized line. "It not as bad as it looks," he said reassuringly. "Last I knew, they ran two trains, ten minutes apart, and they're pretty long."

"That's…good," she replied, unsure of what else to say.

It wasn't long until the next train arrived and, even though there were a lot of people ahead of them, they were on their way relatively quickly.

"Hey, they have a treehouse!" he exclaimed, pointing to a large tree with what appeared to be small huts dotting its massive branches. "I wonder when they put that in? I wonder if that's a real tree or a fake?"

"Do you want to find out?" Alia asked, her eyes twinkling at his enthusiasm.

"Absolutely! Loved them when I was a kid!"

'Kid'? Alia's smile faltered at the known yet unfamiliar word. Max was a kid at one time? Maybe he'd been upgraded several time?

The ride eventually ended, and a sobered Alia followed her date through the exit gate. "Sh-Shall we go to the treehouse?" she suggested, still trying to ignore a nagging feeling.

"Only if you don't have any preferences right now," he said easily. "I don't want this to be just about me, after all."

"Th-Thanks."

He simply smiled and extended his hand in response. She briefly studied it again, and somehow it looked…different.

"Everything okay?"

She shook her head, and finally managed to ignore her concerns as she matched his infectious smile. "Y-Yeah. Sorry, I had something on my mind."

"Well, let's make today about having fun, okay?" he said, his smile never wavering. "We'll have plenty of time to worry about stuff later."

The last of her unease disappeared, a smile growing as she accepted his hand. "Okay."

* * *

"Whoa, this is amazing…" Max breathed as they looked out one of the windows of the highest hut in the treehouse. "I think we're even higher than we were in the train!"

Alia smiled fondly at his happy expression as he gazed out over the park. "I think you're right."

He caught her looking at him, and his smile broadened. "Are you doing okay up here? You're not afraid of heights, are you?"

"No, I'm not," she told him.

His smile faded as he reached out toward her face, and she could see an intensity in his eyes, and she found herself hoping…wondering if he was going to try to kiss her. She didn't flinch as the palm of his hand touched her cheek and, without even meaning to, she increased the sensitivity in that area…and her eyes widened slightly as she detected a pulse. While reploid power cycles were similar to those in humans, and the newer models had a synthetic circulatory system, there was no mistaking the pattern of a human heartbeat.

"You're so beautiful…" she heard him say, and her focus shifted in time to see his face moving towards hers…but instead of angling his head to kiss her lips he moved to the side, and she felt a gentle pressure on her other cheek. The sensation overwhelmed her sensory inputs, causing her body to reroute power from her optical sensors to compensate, and her eyes closed...

It also rerouted power from her lower extremities, and her knees buckled. "Whoa!" Max yelled, quickly grabbing his date before she could hit the floor. "Are you okay?"

Power suddenly restored, her eyes opened and her legs worked to restore her balance. "Y-Yeah…I…I wasn't expecting that."

"I'm sorry," he said with a look of genuine regret. "I lost my head there for a minute. Do…Do you want to go home?"

"N-No…" she said weakly. In spite of her passive scan results… "I…I liked it."

"Next time I'll ask; I should have asked in the first place. Sorry about that."

"I-It's okay," she said, laying a hand on his face and trying to ignore the pulse that she couldn't help but detect.

"Well, what's next?" he asked, still excited but somewhat subdued. "You humored me; do you have anything you want to do?"

"Could we get something to eat?" she asked. "I've heard about fair food, but…"

"…you've never had any before 'cause you've never been to an amusement park," he finished for her with a lopsided grin. "Sure, let's go."

She wrung her hands as she followed him to the food court. What if Max was human? What was she supposed to do? She cursed her own stupidity. Granted, neither of them had been forthcoming about their natures but, in hindsight, she could see the signs that he wasn't a reploid. Had she been ignoring them? And if so, why?

"Are you sure you're okay?" She looked up to find him studying her face. "I'm not the best at reading people – yet – but you're acting really nervous or something. Did I say something stupid and you're just being too polite to call me on it? You can shoot me straight, you know; I don't learn from mistakes I don't know about."

"No, it's…" Caught off-guard, she wasn't sure what to say. "Let's…just get lunch, okay? Please?"

"O-Of course. What would you like to try?"

"Th-Their corn dogs, please."

"Two? Three?"

"T-Two?"

He nodded while studying her. "Okay, but after this we're going to talk. You don't look like you're having fun, and I want to know why. If there's something I can do to help, I want to do it." He gestured to a picnic table off in the distance, near a large, shady tree. "Why don't you head over there and give yourself a chance to cool off, get your thoughts together." He studied her a moment longer, then sighed. "Look, I don't mean to sound demanding about this, but whatever it is seems to be really bothering you."

"Y-You're right, Max," she admitted. "I'll be waiting for you over there."

"See you in a few," he said with a wink and a smile.

As she made her way over to the table, she allowed her eye lubricant to overflow, not that she could stop it at that point. After all, humans never got into intimate relationships with reploids on any kind of regular or extended basis. In the past, every human-reploid relationship ended up with the human using, and eventually mistreating, the artificial lifeform. "I know Max isn't like other people," she said as she hugged herself, "but how would he react to finding out I'm…not human?"

Her anxiety spiked as she saw him approaching with a couple of white bags. "Two corn dogs," he announced as he placed a bag in front of her, drawing a hesitant smile from her. "And…two corn dogs," he said as he sat down with the other bag.

"Do…Do you like them, too?" she asked.

"They're not my favorite food," he admitted, "but…I like them, and I wanted to share the experience with you. Mustard? Catsup?" he asked, pulling several small packets out of his bag.

"No thank you." Under the circumstances, Alia wasn't sure her material processing plant would be able to handle anything unusual.

"So…" Max started after taking a couple of bites from his corn dog, "what's bothering my lovely research partner?"

Her chewing slowed, followed by a swallow and a sigh. "Max? I have a question, but I don't know how it's going to sound."

"Hit me," he said with a lopsided grin. "I've told you; you can shoot me straight."

"You have, that's true. It's just that…I'm afraid."

"Hey," he said, covering her hand. "We're here for each other, right? That's what we agreed to about two weeks ago, right?"

"Y-Yeah," she replied, shuddering at the pulse in his hand that thundered through her sensors. She took a deep breath. "Max? Are you…human?"

He sputtered, almost losing his bite of corn dog. "Am I human?" he managed after swallowing. "Well, yeah. Why? Whoa, Alia, what's wrong?"

Alia's reactor had suddenly accelerated in response to distress impulses from several parts of her body, causing her to tremble. "Max? I'm…I'm…"

"You're…?" he said encouragingly.

"I'm so sorry, Max," she said as her optical lubricant began to overflow again. "I'm…I'm a reploid."

It was as though time had stopped at Max's immediate location. The only sign that time was still flowing was the occasional blink as he stared at her.

"I wasn't trying to keep it from you; it just never came up and I thought you were a reploid until you kissed me, and…" Alia knew that she sounded pathetic, but she also knew that she had never been so horribly mistaken before.

Max finally started moving again, slowly chewing and swallowing his food. "So…you're a reploid…?"

She nodded shamefully.

"Could…I see some proof?"

From his tone she could tell he was numb with shock, and she extended her arm and pulled up the sleeve. She then executed the internal command to pop open one of the panels on her arm, revealing the circuitry and endoskeleton

within.

"That's…yeah…" he murmured as he stared at her arm. "Looks so real…"

"I'm so sorry, Max," she lamented as she closed the panel again. "I really wasn't trying to deceive you."

He suddenly barked a laugh. "You? Deceive me? Of course not. God, I am so stupid…"

"M-Max?"

"I mean, all the signs were right there, right?" He scoffed as he looked away. "You work at Maverick Hunter Headquarters, you dress differently than most women… I am such a dumbass…"

"No, you're not; both of us made assumptions about the other, and I'm sorry."

"Me, too," he said, stuffing the uneaten part of his meal back in the bag. "I can't eat while stupid."

She couldn't help but giggle at his remark. "I feel kinda dumb, too."

Her words drew his gaze and he stared at her again, for an uncomfortable length of time. "I need to go," he finally said. "I have some thinking to do."

"I understand," she said quietly. "I can find my way home."

"No, I'll see you home," he said, getting to his feet. "That's the right thing to do."

She got up as well and, as they headed to the exit, she took her proper place, one step behind and to the left side of the human.

* * *

"…a-and then he took me home, bid me good-night, and then left."

"Oh no, Alia; I'm so sorry," Palette said softly as she lay a hand on her friend's shoulder. As usual, they were in the Rec Room. "I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner."

"I didn't either," Layer lamented. "I ended up with the impression that he was a reploid, so…" she trailed off as she shook her head sadly.

"Do you think he's going to break up with you?" Palette asked carefully.

"Probably," the blonde navigator said, her voice barely above a whisper. "You know how relationships between reploids and humans have gone in the past."

"I hope he'll still accept you," Palette said consolingly as she drew her friend into a hug. "You've said that he's different than any human or reploid you've ever met."

"True," Alia said heavily. "I just don't know if his 'difference' will be able to handle something like this."

"I hope so," Layer said as she laid a hand on her senior's knee.

Alia rose from her seat. "I'm going to turn in early; after today, I need a little more recharge time than usual."

Alia's friends accompanied her to her room, Layer with a hand on her shoulder, Palette with one on her back.

"Good night," Layer greeted. "And I hope this is resolved quickly for you."

"Me too," Palette added.

"Thanks." Alia waved as she passed through the door to her room, hearing it close behind her. She would turn in early, as she said, but there was something she needed to do first. She headed over to the couch, threw herself on it, and allowed herself to cry.


	7. Reploid Reassignment

**Chapter Seven: Reploid Reassignment**

Alia sat at her console, head propped on one hand, while the index finger of the other hand tapped idly. It had been several days since her date at the park with Max, and she was still suffering from a myriad of thoughts and emotions around the discovery of his humanity. In hindsight, she could see the signs that he wasn't a Reploid; his comparatively slower reaction time, endurance, strength. "Why didn't I see it sooner?" she lamented to herself.

" _ALIA!"_

"Wh-What?" she stammered, snapping out of her reverie to umute her comm. "What is it, X?"

" _Would you_ _please_ _stop tapping the 'connect' button! My right audio receptor's starting to ring!"_

She looked down and, sure enough, her finger had been absently tapping the 'connect' button. "I'm sorry, X! I was thinking about something else, and…"

" _Max?"_

"Y-Yeah…"

A noticeable pause. _"Look, I'm sorry about how things turned out with your friend, but I really need you with me right now."_

"I-I'm sorry, X," she said trying to pull herself together, as she reexamined the information on her console. "According to our data, you're, uh, in pursuit of Doppel Hound; he can create temporary duplicates of himself, but his doubles are not a powerful as he is. I…" she trailed off as an image of Max's smiling face suddenly intruded.

" _Come on, Alia; I need you here."_

"I-I would recommend using the Stealth Shot; its three way fire would allow you to hit multiple targets, qu-quickly taking out any duplicates."

" _I was thinking the same thing."_ Another longish pause. _"Thanks, Alia; good work. Going silent."_

"G-Good luck, X," she managed as she fought to push aside the image of her boyf-of Max. "Alia out."

"You doing okay?" Alia looked up to find Palette, with concern in her eyes, standing next to her chair. "Axl just cleared his area, so I thought I'd check on you."

The senior navigator brushed a stray lock from her forehead. "I thought getting back to work would help me take my mind off him, but…"

"It's not helping?" Alia looked to her other side, where Layer stood watching her with a sympathetic expression.

"No," she replied with a shake of her head, more to try to clear it than anything. "It's so weird, though; we haven't known each other for very long, but we…connected so quickly."

"Well, you're both into researching," Layer suggested. "Maybe that's it?"

"I've thought about that," Alia replied, "and I think that's part of it, but…not all of it. I mean, I liked Gate, but… there's more to Max than that."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Palette chirped as she started to fidget. "You told us that he asked you to be his partner, right?"

"Close enough, I think," Alia acknowledged.

"What if what makes him special is that he wants you as a partner in his life rather than someone who just cooks and cleans?"

"I don't understand."

"I think I do," Layer said. "Most of the time, a man will beg a woman to 'date him', or whatever word or phrase they're most comfortable with; in other words, he asks her to let him into her world. Max did the opposite; he invited you into his world. Even though you're both into research, he invited you to join him on his search for truth as someone at his side as opposed to someone who just performs that tasks that he wouldn't be able to do due to his time spent studying."

"Wow…" Palette breathed, her eyes wider than their usual. "That's pretty deep, Layer."

"It's…just a theory," the tall navigator admitted while ducking her head with a tint to her cheeks.

"It does sound like him, though," Alia mused. "But that doesn't change the fact that he's human."

"Wait!" Palette exclaimed. "If he sees you as his equal, maybe he won't break up with you!"

"I don't know," Alia said as she absently ran her fingers through her golden lengths several times. "I haven't heard from him since he brought me home from the park…"

"Maybe…Maybe he's just embarrassed," Palette suggested. "You did tell us that he called himself some pretty bad words for not catching on to what you are."

"You're really worried about this, aren't you?" Layer noted.

"Well, yeah!" the short navigator exclaimed as she stomped her foot. "I've never seen Alia so happy before, and I want her to be happy all the time!"

"Thank you," Alia replied as she laid a hand on her friend's arm. Just then, the 'return' light on her console began flashing, indicating X's arrival back at Maverick Hunter HQ. At the same time, her comm cheeped and she tapped the 'connect' button. "Alia here."

" _Navigator,"_ Signas' voice sounded through her headset. _"Please come to my office immediately."_

"Is something wrong, Commander?" she asked while showing her friends a nervous expression.

" _Yes and no. Please come to my office immediately. If your co-navigators are there, tell them to come as well."_

"Y-Yes, sir, they're here and I'll let them know." Alia signed off, then removed her headset. "Commander Signas wants us in his office, immediately."

"Did he say why?" Layer inquired.

The blonde navigator shook her head. "He just told me to come to his office and have you two come with me."

"Then we'd better not keep him waiting," Palette said anxiously. "I hope we're not in trouble."

The women were quiet as they made their way toward their boss' office. They'd been called many times for briefings and debriefings, but the timing of the call seemed…suspicious.

As they entered the office, they saw that X, Zero, and Axl were all there as well. To their surprise, Shortwave was there, too. "H-Hi," she squeaked while giving them a small, awkward wave.

"Is everyone here?" Signas asked as he rose from his seat behind his desk and moved to stand before it.

"Maverick Hunters X, Zero, and Axl reporting 'present'," X declared as the three of them saluted.

"N-Navigators Alia, Layer, and Palette reporting 'present'," Alia declared as the three of them saluted. All of them then dropped their salutes as everyone looked to the diminutive receptionist, who shrank under their collective gaze.

"R-R-Receptionist Shortwave r-reporting 'present'?" she squeaked as she finally managed a salute. "Oh, Commander, am I in trouble? I'm really sorry."

"No one is up for a reprimand," the tall reploid intoned. "You are all here because I need to inform you of a temporary change of personnel."

The seven of them exchanged glances. "Understood, sir," X replied for the group. "What are your new orders?"

"Only two of you are being reassigned," Signas told them, "but I wanted all of you to know since it will likely affect office relations." He paused a moment to let his words sink in before continuing. "Navigator Alia."

"Sir!" she said, snapping to attention.

"You are hereby relieved of duty, immediately and indefinitely."

"S-Sir?" she said, her posture faltering.

"You performance has been…lacking as of late. Rechecking our logs, I find that you have not taken any kind of leave since the Eurasia incident."

"B-But sir-"

Signas stopped her with a hand. "This is not open for discussion. You are relieved of duty, and Receptionist Shortwave will be substituting for you in the interim."

"M-Me?" the short, redheaded reploid squeaked. "I-I mean; me, sir?"

"That is correct," Signas replied. "You will train with Navigators Layer and Palette for the remainder of your shift in preparation to take Navigator Alia's position as X's navigator, starting tomorrow."

"B-But I couldn't do that!" Shortwave protested while casting anxious glances at the veteran maverick hunter.

Signas drew himself up to his full height. "That was an order, not an offer," he declared.

"Y-Yes, sir," she stammered as she started to tremble, shifting her anxious glances to Alia.

"All of you will support her efforts to the best of your ability," Signas said. "X, I expect you to be gracious to your new navigator as she learns her new responsibilities."

"I'll take care of her, sir," X said, then flinched as he heard a gasp from his new navigator.

"Dismissed," Signas said, then turned to head back behind his desk as the group started to leave. "Navigator Alia; please stay behind."

"We'll be outside," Palette said reassuringly as she and Layer left the room, closing the door behind them.

Alia approached Signas' desk somewhat cautiously. "Y-Yes, sir?"

The Maverick Hunter commander gestured to the seats in front of his desk. "Please, sit."

"Th-Thank you, sir," she replied as she settled into one of the large swivel chairs. "What can I do for you?"

Signas' expression grew surprisingly gentle. "How are you doing, Alia?"

She blinked; Signas rarely used her name absent her title, so… "To be honest, sir; I'm a mess right now," she answered while looking down at her clasped hands.

"Why is that?"

"Well, when Max and I went to the amusement park a few days ago, I found out that he's…" she tried to suppress the memory and, by extension, the emotions that went with it. "…he's a human."

"Indeed?" he said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his desk. "And what clued you in to this?"

Alia really didn't want to relive that particular memory, but… "He…told me after I asked him."

"And what prompted you ask such an odd question?"

She couldn't stop the optical lubricant from escaping their ducts. "He…kissed me on the cheek, and…I could feel his heartbeat."

"And how did you know that it was a heartbeat? The next generation of reploids have-"

"It's not just that!" she exclaimed, forgetting that she was talking to her superior. "He tired too quickly while fighting Seismic Sloth, his reflexes are slower than the average reploid…" she trailed off with a puzzled gaze. "Sir, why are you asking me about this? Are you saying that you didn't know he was human?" He simply gazed at her, and she realized that he would have had to have known. "Sir…why didn't you tell me?"

He steepled his fingers. "My involvement with all of you is at a professional level; that precludes becoming involved in your personal lives. That being said, I am not unaware of my subordinates' feelings toward one another; we are very much like a family, though not."

"What does Max have to do with this?"

Signas leaned back in his seat. "As you know, I have one of the most advanced processors of my generation; this allows me to nearly predict what will happen in the near future."

"Yes sir, I know about that. But why are you telling me this now?"

"To give you context for what I am about to say." He rose from his seat and headed to the window behind his desk and looked out. "I have good reason to believe that your relationship with Max will be the next step of reploid evolution."

She was on her feet in an instant. "What do you mean?" she demanded. "I don't even know if he wants to have anything to do with me, and you're saying…?"

"I cannot say with certainty, of course," he admitted, "but your situation presents a unique opportunity for Reploidkind. What Sigma tried to do for years may be accomplished by the two of you in less than half the time."

"What do you mean?"

The commander turned to face her again. "Sigma tried to advance reploids by instigating conflict, particularly between human and reploids. What is needed, however, is communion and cooperation between us, like we had in the beginning." He circled his desk to stand before his former subordinate. "Take whatever time you need to reconcile with Max. While I do not wish to coerce you into a relationship with him, I do believe that such a relationship would be good for both of you, and for humankind and Reploidkind as well."

* * *

"He really said that?" Palette said in disbelief as the two navigators plus Alia headed toward their quarters. "Wow…"

"I've never known the commander to talk like that," Layer agreed. "But…what he said makes sense."

"Well, now all you have to do is get Max to fall in love with you again!" the short reploid chirped while flashing a 'victory' sign.

"Yeah," Alia mumbled, casting her gaze to the ground before them.

"Perhaps we could visit that clothier," Layer suggested. "She knows a bit about Max, doesn't she? Perhaps she would be willing to provide some insights."

"Hey, that's right!" Palette piped up. "And while we're at it, we can get some cute clothes!"

The navigator's excitement was contagious, and Alia found herself smiling. "Sure. Let's go."

"We'll meet up with you after work," Layer said. "Perhaps you should rest a bit before then; you've had a rough day."

"All right," Alia said as they parted. "See you later."

* * *

Tiny bells tinkled as the girls entered the clothing shop, and Alia looked up to see a cluster of small bells attached to the doorway in such a way that the opening door would hit it, causing them to ring.

"Welcome!" a semi-familiar voice called out. "Ah, welcome back, young lady!"

"Thank you, ma'am," Alia replied meekly.

"And are these your friends?" the shop owner gushed as she approached the trio.

"I'm Palette!" the shorter of the two chirped as she hopped to stand before the older woman. "Nice to meet you!"

"My name is Layer, and it's a pleasure to meet you as well," the taller reploid greeted.

"Well, I'm Ginny, and it's a pleasure to meet you both as well," she said with a smile as she turned to Alia. "Well, are you here for another outfit? I've been working to find some that would suit you nicely."

"I…I'm…"

Layer laid a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Miss Ginny, we need your help. Alia hasn't seen Max for almost a week since a rather…unfortunate…date at the park."

"What happened?' Ginny asked as she ducked down to get a better look at Alia's expression. "He didn't do something stupid, did he?"

"NO!" Alia managed to yell before covering her mouth with both hands.

"Then what is it?"

"She found out that he's a human," Palette explained.

"And…?" Ginny asked expectantly.

Layer and Palette looked at each other. "That's it," Layer said.

To their surprise, the older woman looked amused. "And you didn't know that, then?"

"N-No, ma'am," Alia admitted.

Ginny's expression turned from amusement to sympathy. "Oh, you poor dear. That must have been awkward."

"We're hoping you could give us some insights as to how she can win back Max's favor," Layer explained.

"'Win back'?"

"Humans and reploids don't usually get in…intimate relationships," Layer informed her. "Or rather, when they do it typically doesn't end well."

"Now you listen to your Aunt Ginny," the older woman said gently as she put her arm around Alia. "There's one thing you need to know about Max; he doesn't see 'humans' or' Reploids'…he sees 'people'."

Alia's eyes snapped to hers with a hopeful look. "You really think so?"

"I know so, dear," she said comfortingly. "Most likely, he'll show up at your work in some dramatic fashion to ask you to forgive him or something like that."

"O-Okay…" Alia said, not sure what to make of her words.

"Now," Ginny said, releasing her charge, "can I help any of you with a new outfit?"

"Actually, maybe you could help Layer out!" Palette chirped, laying her hands on the taller reploid's arm as though to present her. "She's been trying to get Zero's attention for a really long time, but she's too shy to approach him directly."

"Palette!" Layer hissed.

"Oh, so you're hoping to get his attention, are you?" Ginny said with a sly grin.

"Y-Yes…ma'am," Layer replied hesitantly.

"Do you know what he likes in a girl?" Ginny asked.

"I'm sorry?"

"What he likes in a girl," she repeated. "All men like certain things about girls, but the trick is that they each have their own particular tastes."

"So what do I do?" Layer asked.

"Well, you find out what this Zero fellow prefers in his companions, and you try to accentuate that in yourself…provided you have that quality to begin with. For example; In terms of appearance, Max prefers more evenly-proportioned women, not too big in any one area."

"H-How do you know this, ma'am?" Alia asked as she self-consciously crossed her arms over her chest.

Ginny's disposition sobered noticeably. "He would always bring girls to me," she said. "I think he thought of me as his second mother."

"So why didn't his relationships last?"

"They just weren't a match," Ginny replied with a shrug. "They were all nice-enough girls, but they would end up either jealous of the attention he gave his research, or they wanted him to spend money on them."

"Like he did with me," Alia lamented. "Now I feel bad for him spending money on me."

"Now, don't be like that," the older woman scolded gently as she put her arm around the young reploid again. "I doubt he has any regrets in buying that lovely outfit for you; he believes in investing in things and people he values."

"So he valued me…"

"Values," Ginny emphasized. "You still don't know that he's done with you, and I think you'll be seeing him again, very soon. As for you, young lady," she said, waggling a finger at Layer, "find out what your young man likes; colors, styles, body types, anything you can find out and you come back to me, and we'll make you more irresistible than you already are."

"I…will keep that in mind, ma'am. Thank you."

"You're quite welcome, dear," Ginny said with a kind smile. "One thing I will say off the top of my head is: let him see your eyes. My husband would say they are the windows to the soul, revealing who we really are."

"I…will keep that in mind, ma'am," Layer repeated. "Thank you."

In the end, Alia ended up buying a new outfit, a sky-blue dress that covered her from neck to ankles, as well as to her wrists.

Layer, on the other hand, came away with a plan…


	8. Dynamic Duel

**Chapter Eight: Dynamic Duel**

POWER…ON  
REACTOR…99.98%  
POWER ON SELF-TEST (POST)…OK  
RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM)…1024TB…OK  
READ/WRITE MEMORY (RWM)…2048PB…OK  
OS 'ALIA'…ONLINE

Alia's eyes opened to the familiar view of her quarters from inside her recharging pod. The steady thrumming of her reactor sounded in her audio receptors until her sound suppression subroutines initiated, filtering out the ambient noise.

The glass door on her recharging pod slid open, and she stepped out into her otherwise unoccupied room, ready to start her day…only she had nothing to do. Without her job as navigator, Alia found herself at a loss as to what to do with herself.

A beeping from the entrance to her quarters drew her attention, and she pressed a button on one of the many consoles scattered around her living space. "This is Alia."

" _Good morning, sleepyhead!"_ Palette's voice chirped from the other end. _"Can we come in?"_

Alia smiled to herself; what good friends. "Just a minute." She ended the communication and headed over to the entrance, pressing a button next to it to open the door. A _whoosh_ of the door sliding into the wall, and her friends came into view. "Good morning," she greeted. "Come on in."

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" Palette greeted again as she entered, followed by Layer. "We're headed to work, but wanted to stop by to check up on you!"

"Thanks, but I'm okay," Alia said.

"Have you decided what you're going to do about Max?" Layer queried, getting right to the point.

Alia sighed. "I thought about that a lot before turning in…"

"Do you want to be with him?" Layer followed up.

"Yeah," she replied, ducking her head.

"Why are you embarrassed?" Palette asked. "You're not ashamed for wanting to be with a human, are you?"

"If it were anyone else…probably," Alia admitted. "But Max…"

"He's different, isn't he?" Layer asked with a soft smile.

"Yeah…"

"Well, go get 'em!" Palette exclaimed. "You know where he lives, right?"

"No," Alia said, shaking her head with a look of regret. "He never told me. In fact, I don't even know if he knows that I live here."

"Ouch," the shorter reploid replied sympathetically.

"At least he knows where you work," Layer offered. "If he comes here to find you, then you can get back together."

"That's true," Alia conceded. "I hope he actually-"

Her words were interrupted by the sound of the klaxon alarms, causing all three women to look up. "That's the perimeter alarm!" Palette yelled as she scrambled to her feet.

"Could it be Dynamo?" Alia wondered aloud. The mercenary hadn't been seen since the Gate incident, but that certainly didn't mean that he had been destroyed.

"It could be," Layer replied, also getting to her feet. "We'll keep you posted, but you should really be focused on your situation with Max."

Alia watched sadly as her friends hurried from her quarters. She knew that in a few seconds Maverick Hunter HQ would begin reconfiguring itself to Fortress Mode, making it nearly impregnable, but she still wished she could join her friends; at least she'd be doing something.

She jumped as Signas' voice sounded through the PA system: _"Attention, please: Alia, please report to the command center. I repeat: Alia, please report to the command center."_

"What could he need from me?" she wondered. "He put me on leave just yesterday." She quickly donned her headset just in case, and bolted from the room. As she ran down the hall to the nearest elevator, the building started to shake around her, and she knew that, outside, thick doors would be slamming shut over the main entrance, and trap doors would be opening in the sidewalk around the building to reveal varying types of energy weapons specifically designed for all different kinds of mavericks.

She dashed into the command center and skidded to a stop before Commander Signas. "Nav-er, Alia here, sir!"

"Come look at this, please," he intoned, gesturing toward a monitor.

With a puzzled look she moved to his side and looked into the monitor. Her eyes widened and her reactor output increased at the sight of a familiar face on the screen. "M-Max?!"

Sure enough, her friend stood outside Maverick Hunter HQ with energy blades brandished, surrounded by rookie Hunters. The monitor showed that he was yelling something, but she couldn't tell what.

Signas leaned forward and pressed one of the buttons near the screen. "Report."

On the monitor, Alia could see one of the hunters bring his hand up next to his head. _"It's Navigator Alia's human,"_ she heard him reply. _"He's challenging X to a duel…"_ He looked over at the human for a moment. _"…in one of our training rooms, preferably."_

"Max, what are you doing?" Alia breathed. Then she whirled on her former commander. "Please let me talk to him, sir; I might be able to talk him down."

Signas studied her for a brief moment before he smiled and laid a hand on her shoulder. "This is not the reunion I was hoping for the two of you, but go ahead."

"Thank you," she said before bolting from the room, squeezing between the blast doors as they slowly opened. She entered the elevator at the end of the hall and fidgeted as it descended. "What am I going to say to him?" she asked herself. "And why does he want to fight X? He had enough trouble with Seismic Sloth; what chance does he think he'd have against X?"

The elevator finally reached the entrance level, and as she ran across the main floor she barely noticed Shortwave's replacement behind the reception desk as the defensive doors parted just enough for her to hurry through.

Her breath caught in her throat as she saw her man in the middle of the group of Hunters, just as she'd seen on the monitor. "Max…"

"Hey, Alia!" he greeted with a huge smile, his demeanor an almost humorous contrast to the serious-looking Hunters who had their weapons trained on him. "Sorry I haven't visited you."

"What are you doing?!" she exclaimed as she marched up to him through the crowd of Hunters, who parted as she approached. "I haven't seen you since the park, and now you have HQ in an uproar!"

"Yeah, sorry about that," he said as casually as though they were taking a walk. "I'm just here to challenge X."

"Why?"

"I…can't tell you," he replied with an apologetic look. "But I can tell you that I'm not leaving until X accepts my challenge…or if I get need to get something to eat." He leaned toward her, causing more of the nearby Hunters to ready their weapons. "Do you think Mr. Zero could talk him into it?"

Alia looked at him in disbelief for several seconds before bursting into laughter; the whole situation seemed surreal. "All right, Max; I'll go talk to the commander and see what I can do. Just…" she gestured helplessly at him. "…Just don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, okay? Promise?"

"Promise," he replied, moving to cross his heart with his hand before remembering he still had a blade in it. "Oops. Yeah, promise."

She shook her head with a smile before turning to head back into the building. Partway there she stopped and turned back to him. "Max? It's…I'm really glad to see you again."

"Thanks," he said, raising one of his blades in a knight's salute and causing even more of the Hunters to raise their weapons. "Oops. Sorry, guys."

She saw him deactivate his blades before she entered Maverick Hunter HQ again. "May I use your comm?" she asked as she approached the receptionist.

"Of course, ma'am," the male reploid behind the desk replied.

"Thank you." Alia leaned over the counter and pressed one of the buttons behind the desk. "Commander? Alia here."

" _Go ahead."_

Alia smiled with a shake of her head. "It's no use, sir; he's set on challenging X. I didn't think to specifically ask him, but I'm sure he's not here to try to kill him."

" _He_ _must_ _know that X is our best Maverick Hunter and wouldn't stand a chance."_

"I could be wrong, but I get the feeling that he's challenging himself more than he is X," Alia remarked. "He's a seeker of truth, after all; he's probably doing this to try to learn something. Is X here today?"

" _He is, surprisingly. I will contact him about this, then contact you again. Stand by. Signas out."_

"Why would a human want to challenge X?" the receptionist asked as Alia cut her end of the line. "They're inferior to us in every way."

"Not every way," Alia countered with a withering look. "They're capable of amazing feats of insight and creativity that we haven't been able to duplicate. Besides, if it weren't for those 'inferior humans' we wouldn't be around to begin with."

"Yes, ma'am." With that, the receptionist sat back down behind his desk and began entering information into his computer. Whether he had been working on it before Alia's arrival, or if he started on it to keep himself busy, she didn't care.

Left with nothing to do but wait, Alia fell into one of the chairs in the reception area. She really wanted to go back out to Max, but she had been told to 'stand by', so she would.

Several minutes later the building started to shake again, and Alia was relieved to see the defenses starting to retract, the heavy doors opening fully, letting sunlight back in again, and she could see the rookie Hunters making their way to the entrance, leaving Max standing alone in the courtyard. At the same time, the elevator doors opened, revealing the commander along with HQ's top maverick hunter, and she hopped to her feet. "Sir!"

"Please come with us," Signas said as the pair passed by her on the way to the main doors.

She followed them out the doors and up to Max, who waited while shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Thanks for coming out to see me, gentlemen," he greeted. "I'm sorry for tripping the alarms."

"Don't concern yourself with that at this point," Signas replied. "I must admit to curiosity, though, as to why you would challenge our best Maverick Hunter."

"I-I'm sorry, commander; I can't say right now. I can promise, however, that I'll tell you after we're done…assuming that my challenge is accepted," Max replied while looking meaningfully at X.

X looked to Signas, who simply angled his head. "I will leave this up to you, Hunter Commander X; while I don't normally condone dueling, I also understand that this is not a normal situation. Let me know what you decide, as I will want to be in attendance should you choose to accept."

"Understood, commander," X replied.

Signas nodded once before turning to head back into the building, leaving two reploids and one human in the courtyard. "Sooo…" Max said, clearly sounding anxious. "I know it's kinda sudden, but…can we do this?"

X studied the human for a minute before reaching out and clapping him on the shoulder. "Sure. I could use a new challenge; I've sparred with Zero and Axl so many times that it's gotten kind of boring. Are you going to be okay, though? I don't know what my shots would do to real skin, so do you have any armor? If not, I'm sure we have some that would fit you."

"Thanks, but I'd rather not be made any slower than I already am," Max replied. "I have a light mesh woven into my jacket and pants; I'll just have to be really good at dodging."

"Are you really sure you want to do this?" Alia asked, holding Max's arm as they walked. "X can hold back, but…"

"I'm not really sure," Max admitted, "but I know I have to do this."

"Max, you-"

"Alia," X interrupted. "He'll be fine. He had to have a good head for strategy to do what he did to Seismic Sloth. For what it's worth, I think he has the potential to be a very capable Hunter."

"Wow…thanks," Max said with a look of wonder.

A few minutes later, Max found himself in one of HQ's many training rooms. It was a large, rectangular room with silver walls. Other than the three of them, the room was empty.

"Why do the walls look funny?" Max asked as he carefully traced his fingers down the odd finish on one of the walls.

"They're designed with shock-absorbing properties," Alia explained as X made his way to a console mounted next to the door. "It reduces potential damage if someone collides with it."

"That's…reassuring."

"Max, you…" Alia started, having difficulty finding the right words. "You really don't have to do this; I'm just glad you're here, and…" she bit her lip. "…I've really missed you."

"Thanks," he said as he laid a hand on her cheek, and she reveled in the feel of his pulse. "I've missed you, too. Don't worry; after this we'll celebrate. How does corn dogs sound?"

In spite of her worry, she managed a laugh. "You're something else, you know that?"

Max smiled, and was about to reply when the doors to the training room slid open, and he gaped as Signas, accompanied by Zero and Axl, as well as Palette, Layer and Shortwave, all entered the room. "Whoa…" he breathed. "We're sure getting the VIP treatment, aren't we? Now I'm starting to get a little nervous," he finished, tugging at his collar.

"Do you need a minute or two to prepare?" X asked, drawing Max's attention from their audience.

"Huh? Oh, yeah…please," the human managed, his gaze returning to Zero. "Hey, if I make it through this, do you think Mr. Zero would give me his autograph?"

"A-Autograph?" X stammered, surprised by the out-of-place question. "I'm…sure we could work something out."

"Thanks," Max said, then drew a deep breath. "Well, where's my starting point? I don't want to keep us waiting too long."

"It's right over here," Alia said as she took Max by the arm again. As they headed over she said, "I'm really worried about you; your reflexes and durability are nowhere near X's level."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," he quipped.

"I'm serious, Max," she said, and he could feel her trembling through his arm. "If you get hurt…I don't know what…"

"Look, Alia," he said, turning to face her as they reached his spot. "I'm supposed to be nervous right now, but I really can't afford to be; I need to be focused on the task at hand. What I need you to do," he said, gently tapping her on the nose, "is to have faith in me. Can you do that?"

"I'll try," she said worriedly.

"'Try not; do or do not'," he quoted with an impish grin. "'There is no try'."

She sputtered a laugh at the familiar reference. "O-Okay, M-Max; just…take it easy on him, okay? He's our best Hunter."

"I'll do my best," he said giving her a smile and a wink. "Now excuse me, please; I have work to do."

She nodded once before heading over to join the others, who had made their way to an enclosed booth containing several seats. The booth was normally used by trainers and evaluators to protect them from stray shots and other projectiles that would occasionally fly in unexpected directions. She took a seat between Layer and Palette, who had saved the seat just for her.

"Are you okay?" Palette asked with a look of concern.

"I don't know," Alia answered honestly. "I'm really worried about him, but…somehow, I know everything's going to be okay."

"X isn't the type to destroy a human," Layer pointed out. "I'm sure he'll be holding back."

"Yeah, but…I think it's more than just that," the blonde reploid replied, then chuckled with an expression of wonder. "Somehow…I just know he's going to do just fine. I don't think he'll 'win', but…he'll be amazing."

Her friends exchanged puzzled looks before looking out to the training room, where X stood at one end with his arm transformed to the X-Buster, double checking it. At the other end, Max sat with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. The handles for his blades rested on the floor in front of him, arranged so the blades would cross each other if activated.

Alia sighed as she smiled fondly at her human friend; she had missed him terribly after the incident at the amusement park, so to see him again was…more than a relief.

"What is he doing?" Palette whispered, though it was unnecessary. "Is he going to fight sitting?"

"He's meditating," Alia replied, her eyes still on Max. "It helps him to clear his mind and get focused on…whatever he needs to do."

"I've heard of that," Layer remarked, "but I've never seen it done before."

"It's done more on the inside than the outside," Signas said, his eyes also on their guest. "That's likely why it appears…boring."

Palette had to cover her mouth to hold back her laughter, but it became more difficult when Signas gave her a sidelong glance along with a smile.

"What's so funny?" Axl hissed. "Let me in on the joke."

Any response was silenced at the sight of Max getting to his feet, retrieving his blade handles as he stood. "Thanks for waiting," he said.

"No problem," X replied. "Are you ready, then?"

"As ready as I can be," Max replied, sliding into a sideways combat stance as he activated his blades.

Alia noticed something different about his weapons. "That's new," she remarked thoughtfully. "One of them is shorter than the other."

"Did he adjust them?" Palette asked.

"I don't know," Alia replied, shaking her head. "But Max doesn't seem to be worried about it, so I assume he at least knows about it."

"I hope so," the short reploid said.

"Quiet, please," Signas admonished. "They're starting."

Not unexpectedly, X moved first, firing a trio of Buster shots. Max rolled to the side, and Alia marveled at how he could do that, blades extended, without hurting himself.

"Go, X!" Shortwave cheered, leaping from her seat.

Kneeling on one knee, Max examined his opponent. From his research, he knew about many of X's abilities, along with a few limitations. He knew that X could only fire three shots at a time before requiring a short recharge as well as needing several seconds to charge up an X-Buster shot. Up to that point, it had all been academic; facing the real deal, though…

Fortunately, he had figured out a way to modify his blades to account for the former, at least. He saw X dash a short distance from his starting point and fire off three more Buster shots, and allowed his reflexes to bring up the shorter blade in the path of the volley. As he hoped, the rounds bounced off his blade, sending them harmlessly away. "Whew," he sighed. "Glad that worked, or this would have been a reeeeeally short duel…"

Alia's mouth dropped open at the sight of X's shots being reflected. "How…How did he do that?" she gasped.

"Very impressive," Signas intoned.

Max knew he couldn't close the distance quickly enough to land a blow, so he slowly advanced, making short dashes of his own, diagonal to X's line of fire. He kept the distances random, partly to keep his opponent guessing, partly to conserve his stamina. Using this method, he was able to corner X without the latter even becoming aware of it. When the senior hunter bumped the corner behind him, he leaned forward and activated the dash thrusters in his boots with the intent to dash past Max and gain some breathing room.

As he passed, however, he felt a brief but intense heat against his left leg and, when he came to a stop and quickly checked his leg, he saw a long scorch mark, from his thigh to just above his ankle. "Nice one," he said, giving his opponent an approving smile.

"Thanks," Max said. "You okay?"

"I'm all right," X replied before leveling his arm cannon and firing off three more shots.

"He hit him…" Alia breathed, staring wide-eyed into the training room. She reached to the side, grabbing Layer and starting to shake her. "He hit him!"

"A-Amazing…" Layer said as she tried to free herself from her excited friend's grip.

"Noooo, X!" Shortwave wailed. "Don't let him do that again!"

Max deflected the first shot as he rolled to the side to dodge the next two. Deciding to take the risk, he charged X with the shorter blade up for protection, and X had to dodge to avoid the strike, much to his surprise. He tried firing ahead of Max, but his intended target executed a breakfall, coming to an abrupt stop before quickly windmilling his legs to spin himself upright again.

Wanting to end the fight before it got too heated, X dashed toward the nearest wall and started 'wall-jumping' up it. He knew it wasn't fair to do something the human couldn't do, but he also figured that Max wouldn't settle for anything less than his best, so X would honor that by fighting with everything he had, excepting his Ultimate Armor.

As he watched X ascend the wall, Max took a knee to give himself a little recovery time. To the best of his knowledge X couldn't fire at an angle, so the hunter couldn't just hang out in the corner and take pot-shots at him. He would wait and take the chance to meditate a little longer.

He had finally regained his focus when X decided to drop down from the wall to fire three more shots at him. Max held his shorter blade in front of his face, between himself and the incoming projectiles.

"Max! Look out!" Alia yelled, bolting from her seat.

Max took in a measured breath, and exhaled as the first round bounced off his blade…right back at X. Unfortunately the first shot collided with the second, annihilating them both, but the third streaked toward its previous owner, who had to dive to avoid his own projectile.

Signas was on his feet in an instant. "How could he do that?"

Tears welled in Alia's eyes, pride causing her reactor to work overtime to keep up with the various feedbacks. "Max…"

X looked to his opponent, impressed. "That was amazing, sir!"

"Thank you," Max replied, but his expression seemed, off; like he was there but wasn't. He returned to his original combat stance and began to slowly approach his opponent.

X fired off several buster shots, staggering them on occasion to try to throw the human off, but he kept having to dodge his own shots, as Max somehow kept reflecting them back. Finally he took to wall-jumping again, giving himself enough time to charge his buster. The moment his buster registered a Stage One charge, he dropped again and fired it at Max, who somehow reflected it, but accidentally sent it into the wall near the observation booth, causing Shortwave to cry out. "That was scary!" she wailed.

Max glanced over long enough to see that no one was hurt before directing his attention back to X, who was halfway up the wall again and working on another charge. He threw his longer blade at the hunter, catching him somewhat by surprise and forcing him to drop to the floor. As X dashed away, still working on a charge, Max ran to the spot where he had been to retrieve his blade.

He had just grabbed up his blade and spun while in a kneeling position in time to see a huge globe of energy racing toward him, and he quickly crossed his blades before him. The charged X-Buster shot struck his blades and quickly dissipated; unfortunately for Max the concussive force was enough to slam him into the wall a short distance behind him.

"Max!" Alia cried as she shot to her feet to bolt from the observation booth and run across the room where her friend lay slumped against the wall, dropping to her knees next to him. "Are you okay?"

He looked up, giving her a weak smile as he weakly patted the wall behind him. "Very good walls…yeah, very good walls. Very comfy."

"How is he?" X asked as he jogged up with a concerned look, Signas and the others close behind.

"Call Lifesaver!" she snapped, causing the warrior to take a surprised step back. "I'll watch him!"

X blinked, then turned and ran to the console next to the entrance and started speaking into it.

"I'm all right," Max said, raising a hand toward her face. "Just got the wind knocked out of me."

She intercepted his hand, taking it into both of her own. "Max, you idiot," she trembled. "I was so worried about you."

Palette started to say something, but Signas motioned for her to remain silent.

"Thanks," he grunted, then winced. "Ugh…maybe your doctor should take a look at me… Wait, does he serve my kind here?"

Alia managed a laugh in spite of the optical lubricant that threatened to overflow. "How…How can you joke at a time like this?"

"Read it in a book," he quipped before wincing again. "I'd like to not talk for a while, if that's okay."

"O-Okay." Still trembling, she released his hand to carefully draw him into an embrace.

Lifesaver arrived a few minutes later with one of his many medical teams. "Who requires mechanical attention?"

"Right here," Signas said, indicating their guest.

Alia eyed the doctor warily as he knelt down next to her friend. "Commander, this is a human," he announced.

"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock," Axl quipped before being shushed by Zero.

"We know," Signas replied. "Can you at least scan him?"

Lifesaver 'humphed' in annoyance before reaching for Max's shoulder. "Just hold still," he said in a surprisingly gentle voice. "This shouldn't hurt, but you might feel a tingle."

"Do what you need to, doc," Max grunted. "I trust you."

The medical reploid paused, smiling briefly before turning serious attention to his medical scanner. "Let's see…no broken bones…multiple bruises…minor damage to the right shoulder and hip…" He snapped his scanner shut and looked to the human. "We need to take you to the infirmary. We have equipment that will help with tissue regeneration, so…" he looked over his shoulder to his attendants. "Gurney, please." As they worked on opening up the carrier he returned his attention to Max. "What were you doing to incur such injuries? They aren't beyond what we can handle, but…"

"He…was dueling with X," Alia replied hesitantly.

"He what?" Lifesaver exclaimed before snapping his gaze to Signas. "And you approved this? Do you know what kind of damage X's buster could do to a human body?"

"He fought Seismic Sloth," Signas replied evenly. "He has heart to spare."

"He showed a lot of guts!" Axl added, giving Max a thumbs-up.

"And they could have been splattered all over the walls of our training center!" Lifesaver countered. "This was irresponsible, unnecessary, and-"

"Requested," Max gasped as the medics carefully lifted him to the gurney.

Lifesaver blinked in surprise at the interruption. "You can explain after we get you to the infirmary," he grumbled as they wheeled the human toward the exit.

As the group headed out of the training center X paused, then headed back to retrieve Max's blade handles, carefully palming them before following the others out of the room.

* * *

"I wanted to know if I could fit into your world," Max explained to the group as the medtechs passed their tissue stimulators over him.

"Our world?" Signas asked.

"Well, yeah," Max said; then, his face tinted. "I wanted to know if I was good enough to be with a reploid."

Alia stared at him in disbelief. "You mean…you did that…"

"…so I could be with you," Max finished. "I just wasn't sure if I'd be good enough."

"Good enough?" Layer repeated. "But…it's generally accepted that humans are superior to reploids, isn't it?"

"I only know what I know," Max said, reaching out to take Alia's hand, who eagerly accepted. "I don't give a damn about so-called 'contemporary wisdom'; I want the truth."

"So you challenged X to see if you could understand us?" Signas theorized.

"You got it, chief," Max, replied, already sounding better.

"That's awesome!" Palette exclaimed before glomping onto her blonde friend. "And he did it all for you, Alia! Isn't that awesome?"

Alia started to leak optical lubricant for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day. "Max…you…"

"Hey, that reminds me… Hey, is it okay for me to use this arm?" Max asked one of the techs, who nodded. "I meant to give these to someone before the fight," he explained as he took two small boxes from an inside pocket of his coat. "I hope they didn't get broken."

"What is it?" Alia asked as she released his hand to accept one of the boxes.

"I picked these up a few days ago. My plan was to give that to you after the duel, but…" He nodded sheepishly. "…I didn't account for getting hurt."

"Everyone makes mistakes," Zero said.

Max's face lit up at the hunter's words. "Thank you, sir."

"So what is this?" Alia asked as she started to open the box.

"Wait!" Max exclaimed. "I need to tell you something first!"

"Eep!" She quickly snapped the box shut. "G-Go ahead, then."

Max closed his eyes and took a deep breath, wincing once before opening them again. "Alia, thanks for accepting me at the café even though you didn't know me. You've, uh, added beauty and intelligence to my life and given me encouragement I didn't even know I needed. Thanks."

"Y-You're welcome," she replied as optical lubricant started to trickle down her face.

"Go ahead and open that," he said. As she started to open the box again he said, "Alia, I want exclusive rights to that beauty and intelligence. Now, I'm not a traditional guy the way Ginny thinks I am, but…" he waited until she finished opening the box and gasped, with her hand flying to her chest, "…I want you to be mine and I want to be yours... If you're okay with that."

"Max…" She looked up in disbelief. "Are you asking me to marry you?"

"Am I?" He looked to the ceiling of the infirmary in thought. "Huh, I guess I am."

"Just like the way he asked you to be his girlfriend," Layer observed quietly.

"I know we don't know each other as well as most couples do," Max continued, "but I also know that I don't care. I know that we haven't known each other as long either, but I know that you've given me a lot already, and I want to give back." He held out his hand again, which she quickly took. "Will you join me again, Alia? Will you join me on a journey for truth?"

Alia breathing quickened as her reactor started to overheat from stress. "M-Max…I…oh, absolutely!" she exclaimed, finally bursting into tears of joy as she kissed his hand several times before snuggling it against her cheek. "Yes! Yes!" she cried as Palette and Layer moved up behind her to each rest a hand on her shoulders. "I want to do great things with you…"

"Then it was all worth it," he sighed with a smile. "Here, give me the box; I want to put the ring on you."

She released his hand and gave him the box. He carefully pulled the ring from its mounting and took hold of her trembling hand with his shaky one to slide the ring onto her finger. "You're mine, now," he said with a wink and a grin before handing her the other box.

"This doesn't seem very romantic," Palette complained, whispering to Layer.

"It is, actually," Layer whispered back. "You know how Alia hates ceremony."

"Quiet, please," Signas said in a low voice.

Alia slid the ring onto Max's finger as she looked into his eyes. "You're mine, now," she said with a wink and a grin of her own. "I have a question, though."

"What's that?"

She leaned over him, stopping with her lips just millimeters from his. "What's my last name now?"


	9. Accelerated Development

**Chapter Nine: Accelerated Development**

"Congratulations, Alia…I mean, Mrs. Hannity!" Palette squealed as the Maverick Hunters, Navigators, and Alia along with Signas relaxed in the Rec Room. "I can't believe it; you snagged yourself a man!"

"And a human at that," Layer added. "To be honest, I never thought that any of us would end up with a last name."

"Isn't that great?" Shortwave said as she tried to snuggle against X, who sat stiffly in his seat as he watched her out of the corner of his eye. "All you have to do now is wait until he's done healing, and you can start your life together!"

"Hey, Shortwave; give the man some room!" Axl scolded the newest Navigator. "Can't you see you're making him uncomfortable?"

"Huh?" She looked genuinely confused until she looked up at the face of the object of her affections. "Oh! Am…Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"Sort of," he admitted with a distraught look. "Right now, though, I'm more worried about Mr. Hannity."

"I must confess; I am concerned as well," Signas added. "But Lifesaver and the human medics told us that he'll be fine in a few days. He just needs to recover from the accelerated healing."

"I know," X replied. "Looking back, though, I wish I hadn't accepted his challenge."

"Well, I'm glad you did," Alia said, surprising everyone.

"What?" Palette exclaimed. "Are you serious? Did you want him to get hurt or something?"

Alia shook her head with a thoughtful look. "No, it's just that…he needed to do this." She looked around the group with an awkward smile. "He needs to experience life to be able to fully appreciate it."

"I think I understand," Zero intoned. "It's one thing to read about something in a book, but quite another to actually experience it."

"Exactly."

"And that's one of the things you love about him, isn't it?" Layer asked with an understanding smile.

"Y-Yeah," Alia answered while squirming in her seat.

"Hey, that's right!" Palette chirped. "What is Max's first name, anyway? I mean, his full first name? Maxwell? Maximilian?"

"David," Alia said with an impish grin.

"Huh?"

"His full name is David Maxwell Hannity," Signas informed the group.

Alia sat up with a start. "How did you…oh, right."

"What?" Axl said. "What's the big secret?"

"There's no 'big secret'," Signas replied with a shake of his head. "It's my job to know about these things. I have known all there is to know about Mr. Hannity from shortly after the first time I saw him."

"Wow…" Palette breathed "And you kept it from us this whole time?"

"Yes."

Everybody waited, but Signas said nothing more.

"Well, I guess you have your reasons," Zero said.

"It's probably because he has high hopes for our relationship," Alia said with a faraway look in her eyes.

"What do you mean?" X asked with Shortwave still attached to his arm, though not as tightly.

"Sir?" Alia said while giving Signas a meaningful look.

"It is…" Signas started, then coughed. "As you all know, I have one of the most advanced processors of my generation; this allows me to nearly predict what will happen in the near future."

"Right…" Axl said. "And…?"

Alia smiled to herself, starting to enjoy the replay of her similar conversation with Signas just a few days prior.

"I have good reason to believe that their relationship will lead to the next step of reploid evolution," the commander explained.

"How so, sir?" Layer asked as she leaned forward with an expression of curiosity.

"Sigma tried to advance reploids by instigating conflict, particularly between human and reploids," he continued. "What is needed, however, is communion and cooperation between us, like we had in the beginning. Because of this, I believe that a close relationship between a reploid and a human would be good, not just for Mr. and Mrs. Hannity in this case, but for humankind and Reploidkind as well."

"That's…deeper than I can handle," Axl said, rubbing at his head. "But if the two of them getting together'll be good for everyone, then I'll help out in any way I can."

"Thanks, Axl," Alia said with smile that caused the younger Reploid to blush.

X got to his feet to stand before his former navigator. "If there's anything I can do to help, just tell me, okay?"

"I will," Alia croaked, her emotions causing her vocal processors to randomly spike. "Thanks, X; that means a lot to me."

"Well, I don't really care about all this relationship stuff," Zero grunted as he crossed his arms. "But count me in, too; call me if you need me."

Palette saw Layer wince and laid a hand on her back.

"We will all be at your disposal, Alia," Signas intoned as he gave Zero a puzzled look. "Within reason, of course."

"Of course," she giggled as she wiped at her eyes.

"Sir?" Shortwave said, timidly raising her hand. "If Alia's coming back, does that mean…?"

Her fearful expression was not lost on her senior officer. "The three of us – Alia, you, and myself – will have a meeting to discuss this after things have settled down. For now, you are to perform your duties as usual."

"Yes, sir!" she chirped, hopping up next to X with a salute, causing the latter to flinch at the sudden movement.

"As for you, Mrs. Hannity," Signas continued while giving Alia a meaningful look, "I believe you have a future to plan for, do you not?"

"Sir?"

"Your married life!" Palette cheered, leaping to her feet. "Where you're gonna live, who's gonna do what around the house…"

"That's true," Alia conceded, looking down at the floor.

"Are you planning on visiting him today?" Signas asked.

Alia shook her head. "He asked me to give him a couple of days to recover. I think he was embarrassed that I saw him like that."

"That does sound like Max," Layer said with a sympathetic chuckle.

"What about children?" X asked as he settled back in his seat, Shortwave settling down as well to snuggle his arm. "I don't know a whole lot about them, but I do know that humans value their young highly."

The mood of the room suddenly turned somber. "I…suppose…we could adopt…" Alia suggested, though she didn't appear to really like the idea.

"Max strikes me as the type who'd like to have his own offspring," Layer said, then winced at her thoughtlessness.

"Yeah…" Alia said sadly.

"You will not know for certain until you speak with him about it," Signas said carefully. "I would, however, suggest that he would have to know about our…limits…in this regard."

Alia sighed heavily. "Is he going to regret marrying me once he realizes…?"

"Wh-What about Dr. Light?"

Everyone's gaze snapped to Shortwave, who shrunk behind X at their collective intensity. "Intriguing, navigator. What are your thoughts?" Signas inquired.

"Well…" she started, trying to gather her courage, then popped up and took X's hands in her own as she looked him in the eyes. "He's given you a lot of upgrades, hasn't he? Armor and chips and stuff like that, right?"

"R-Right," X stammered, surprised by the sudden but not-unpleasant feel of her hands.

"Could he help Alia? Make it so she can have babies?"

"Are you serious?" Zero blurted incredulously. "Do you have any idea how complex the human reproductive system is?"

"No," she admitted, then whirled on Zero, giving him a start. "Do you?"

"Well, no…"

"So what's the harm in asking?" she demanded. "What's the worst that the father of robotics could say?"

"She has a point," Signas admitted. "X, you came across one of his capsules while pursuing Chase Cheetah, didn't you?"

"Yes, sir," X replied as his navigator nodded vigorously.

Signas turned to face Alia. "Then perhaps if you were to visit this capsule, you could petition him for assistance."

"M-Me?" Alia squeaked, her face starting to pale. "Talk to D-Dr. L-Light?"

"Sure," X replied. "He's human, just like Max. Or, he was, at least."

"We reploids venerate him due to his contributions that allowed for our creation but, otherwise, X is correct." Signas told her.

"I-I suppose…"

"Alia?" The blonde felt a pair of hands rest on her shoulders, and she looked up into the determined eyes of her substitute. "Would you like to be able to have a baby?"

"I…I don't know…" Alia said, then chuckled awkwardly. "I've never really thought about it, of course…"

"Then we should not press the issue further," Signas informed everyone. "Alia, I apologize if our words or actions have caused you to feel pressured. This is your life, and your relationship."

"R-Right," Shortwave agreed. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to be pushy."

"N-No problem…" Alia said, her expression turning thoughtful.

"Well, if you'll excuse me," Signas said, getting to his feet. "I must return to my station. Alia, I congratulate you once again. Enjoy your time with your new husband, and we will discuss your return at a later date."

"Understood, sir," Alia replied, getting to her feet as well.

The tall reploid simply nodded before exiting the Rec Room.

"Hey, I just realized; He doesn't usually come in here, does he?" Palette remarked as the doors closed behind her senior officer.

"I've never seen him in here," Axl noted.

"Well, this is a special occasion," Layer pointed out.

"Especially to him," Zero added, and Layer had to quickly look down to hide her blush. "I've never seen him so interested in anything outside of work."

"Well, it's like he said," X said. "He sees their relationship as important to the advancement of reploids and humans. You know he'll grab onto anything that would serve that purpose."

Zero simply grunted in response.

Just then, the alarm went off, indicating the discovery of a maverick. At the same time, Signas' voice sounded across the PA system: _"Maverick Hunter Zero and Navigator Layer: please report to the Situation Room."_

"How'd he get up there so quickly?" Axl wondered.

"Let's go!" Zero exclaimed, tapping Layer's arm, causing her to yelp before bolting to her feet to hurry out of the room after him.

"Poor Layer," Alia said, feeling sympathy for her friend. "I know what it's like to feel rejected."

"Yeah…" Palette sighed sympathetically.

"What are you two talking about?" Axl asked, and the girls looked over to see the remaining Hunters watching them with puzzled looks.

"Don't worry about it, X," Shortwave said, tugging on his arm. "Come on; I want to watch you train in the Combat Room."

"Um…o-okay," X managed as he allowed the shorter reploid to drag him from the room.

"Layer needs to learn what Zero likes, right?" Palette asked Alia while ignoring Axl's curious expression.

"Of course."

"But she can't learn anything if she's too shy to talk to him, right?"

"Right."

"So let's get the information for her!" Palette decided.

"Huh?"

Palette put a finger to her lips for a moment, her eyes lost in thought until they settled on her boyfriend. "Oh Aaaaaaaaxllllll…."

"Y-Yeah?" the young hunter stammered as Palette approached him with an eager expression.

"Could you help us get into Zero's quarters?" she asked in a singsong tone, twisting her body side to side while looking up at him with her best 'doe eyes'.

"I…I can't!" he protested. "Signas'd kill me!"

"I understand," she pouted, then moved to whisper into his ear. "But if you do, I'll…" the rest couldn't be heard, but Axl's eyes widened considerably.

"L-Leave it to me!" he declared. "But I'll only be able to get one of you in there."

"I'll take care of it," Palette volunteered before Alia could say anything. "I don't want you to get in trouble so soon after getting some happiness."

"O-Okay," Alia managed, wondering what her friend had said.

"When did you want to do this?" Axl asked, still reeling.

"As soon as possible, of course!" she chirped. "And Zero's headed out on a mission right now…"

"L-Let's go!" Axl exclaimed, grabbing Palette's arm and causing her to squeal into giggles as he nearly dragged her out of the room.

That left Alia alone in the Rec Room. "Well, I guess I'll…go…somewhere, then."

* * *

Alia sat on one of the park's many benches, watching as people of all kinds walked by. Some walked by themselves, some with friends, others were obviously couples…Alia smiled at the memories of her own adventures as a girlfriend.

Her gaze was drawn to a young brunette woman just settling onto a bench across the path from her. With her was a stroller, and it was turned just enough that Alia could see the lone occupant, causing her to draw a quick breath. "A…A baby…" She was out of her seat and across the path before she realized what she was doing, and she found herself staring at the tiny human.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked, deliberately moving the stroller away from the newcomer.

"Huh? Oh! I…I'm sorry," Alia managed. "I just saw your baby, and…" she trailed off, unsure how to finish her sentence. "How…? Is it a boy or a girl?"

"He's a boy," she replied, beaming with pride at her little one. "Brandon here is six weeks old."

"I…I'm not sure what to say…congratulations?"

"Thank you," the young woman said, shifting her gaze to smile up at Alia. "Why are you so nervous?"

Alia looked back and forth between the mother and her child. "I've just…I mean…"

"Did you get married recently?"

"I…I did," Alia replied, wondering how she could tell.

"Well, congratulations!" the young woman exclaimed, getting up from her seat to surprise Alia with a hug. "I'm Alice. It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Alia; Alia Hannity. Nice to meet you, too."

"What an interesting name," Alice said as she took a closer look. "Oh…are you a reploid?"

Alia took a step back as a hand went to her mouth. "H-How did you know?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest," the young mother said with a giggle as she sat down again. "Maybe it's how you felt when I hugged you."

"I…I see…"

"I'm sorry…" Alice said as she patted the seat next to her. "When you first came up to me, I was afraid you were going to try to take Brandon."

"I would never do such a thing!" Alia gasped as she accepted the proffered seat. "I'm sorry if I gave you any reason to think that!"

"It's okay," Alice replied as she saw Alia looking at her baby again. "You're really interested in him, aren't you?"

The reploid said nothing but nodded slowly.

"I'm sorry; I'm not comfortable with someone I barely know holding him, but you can look all you want."

"Th-Thank you," Alia replied. "It's amazing, how two humans can create another one."

"It's…a lot of work," Alice admitted with a blush as she looked back at the baby again. "But to see the little guy smile up at you for the first time…" she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. "…it's just priceless."

"Why is that?" Alia asked.

"Because it means he recognizes you," the young mother replied with a voice heavy with emotion. "And…he's happy to see you."

"You connect…" Alia realized.

"That's…another way of putting it," Alice said as she continued to smile at the sleeping boy.

"Amazing…" Alia breathed.

Alice looked over at Alia's expression of wonder and laid a hand on her shoulder. "You want one, don't you?"

"Y-Yeah…" the young reploid admitted as she continued to stare. "I...acknowledge that I am not permitted to hold him, but…may I touch him? Just his face?"

Alice smiled sympathetically at the artificial woman. "He needs to wake up soon, anyway, so…go ahead."

Alia gave a look of gratitude before sliding from her seat toward the stroller, finally kneeling next to it. She carefully reached out and, routing extra power to her arm stabilizers, gently touched the sleeping baby on its face. "Amazing…" Alia breathed yet again. "He's so soft…"

"Isn't he?" Alice agreed. "I have to pry him away from Peter all the time."

"Who's Peter?" Alia asked quietly so as to not wake the still-sleeping infant.

"He's my husband," she replied. "And once he gets Brandon in his arms, it takes everything I have to get him away so I can feed him."

"Why not have your husband feed him?" Alia asked as she settled back into her seat. "If he's holding him…"

"Thaaaat wouldn't work," Alice said awkwardly. "Pete's a great guy, but that's just it; he's a guy. He doesn't have what's needed for the job."

"I don't understand."

The young mother stared at her for several seconds before a look of understanding crossed her face. "Oh. Okay, I get it." She flashed an awkward smile as she took a deep breath. "See…I breast-feed him," she explained, indicating her chest, "and Pete's not made for that. Human men aren't, in general."

"I see," Alia said, feeling a little self-conscious. "I guess I have some research to do, then."

Alice studied her with sympathetic eyes. "You…can't get pregnant, can you?"

"No…" Alia said heavily while staring at the sleeping infant again.

"I'm so sorry," Alice said warmly. "I don't know how this is going to sound, but…for your sake, I hope you'll be able to, someday."

"Thank you, Miss Alice."

"Just 'Alice', please. And…I'm sorry, what was your name again?"

Alia forced her gaze up to the young mother's face. "My name is Alia; Alia Hannity."

"Well, Alia…" Alice said, giving her another hug, "if I see you around, I'll be sure to say 'hi', okay? And Brandon should be able to say 'hi', too…eventually."

Alia's reactor briefly sped up as her systems recorded Alice's and Brandon's information to permanent memory. "Thank you very much; I…I look forward to it."

Alice smiled at her a moment longer before turning to pick up her bag. "Now, I'm sorry, but I have to go; I need to get him home to feed him. I'd originally just stopped here to rest a bit, but I'm glad to have met you." She got to her feet and took hold of the stroller. "Have a wonderful day, Mrs. Hannity…and congratulations again on your marriage."

"Thank you, Mrs…"

"Edwards."

"Thank you, Mrs. Edwards; you have a wonderful day as well." Alia returned, waving as the young mother pushed the stroller toward home. As she headed back toward the entrance to Maverick Hunter headquarters, one thought dominated all the others: "Baby…"


	10. Discoveries

**Chapter Ten: Discoveries**

"What's this?" the purple-haired navigator asked as Palette handed her one of the data chips used by HQ.

"It's everything that's on Zero's personal computer," the shorter reploid replied, her voice low and conspiratorial. "Everything you've ever wanted to know about your crush is on that chip."

"You can't be serious!" Layer hissed, though she kept her voice low as well. "That's against MHHQ protocols!"

"C'mon, Layer," Palette whispered, putting an arm around her friend's shoulders. "You've been chasing him for a long time. Now you have the chance to know everything about him, and you're going to tell me you don't want it?"

"H-How were you able to store all of it on such a small storage chip?" she asked, trying to distract herself from the ethical implications.

"Would you believe he uses a computer from the early 21st Century?" Palette snickered quietly.

"Wow…" Layer breathed as she noticed that, according to the device's readout, it was less than half full. "He must not use it much."

"He mostly has images," Palette remarked, then quickly waved her hands defensively at the taller navigator's shocked expression. "I didn't look at them all! I just checked a couple to make sure they copied over correctly, I swear!"

Layer swallowed hard as she studied the chip in her hand; it looked so innocuous, so…non-threatening. But if it had the answers she'd been looking for…"Th-Thank you, Palette," she said, closing her hand around the tiny storage device.

"Are you going to be okay?" Palette asked with a worried look.

"I will be…fine," Layer forced herself to decide. "Please excuse me…and thank you again."

"You're welcome," Palette replied as she studied her friend's face as best she could for not being able to see her eyes. "I really hope you find what you need."

The tall reploid could only nod as she turned away from her friend to head back toward her room, her purple hair swaying behind her. As she walked, she tried to justify what she was about to do, but… "Forgive me, Zero," she murmured as she stepped into her quarters, the door quietly sliding shut behind her.

* * *

"So, um…Max?"

"Yeah!" Max replied, smiling at his wife from across her quarters as he put his book aside. "What's up?"

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat at the table. "Do…? Have…?" She made a distressed face at her difficulty in forming a coherent sentence.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, getting up from his chair to cross the room and wrap his arms around her slim shoulders. "You okay?"

She snuggled into him and allowed herself to enjoy the sensation of his heartbeat. "Max? Do you want children?"

"Well, sure," he answered almost immediately. "Not yet, of course, but eventually."

Alia sighed resignedly. "You know I can't get pregnant, right?"

The newlywed human could feel his face heat up; even though Alia had the necessary equipment for the activity, mutual feelings of awkwardness had kept them from 'consummating' the marriage. "Well," he said, nuzzling the top of her head with his cheek, "we could always adopt; there are a lot of orphans left from that space elevator situation, right?"

Alia mulled over his words. It was true that there were many children in need of homes due to their parents' deaths at the hands of maverick reploids during the Jakob's Ladder disaster. "That's true," she conceded as she wrapped her arms around his. "But…how do I put this…?

"The best way you can," he murmured into her soft hair.

"Isn't…Isn't it true that humans want children of their own? I mean, children that are their…real, biological offspring?"

"That's…true," he acknowledged as he released her, only to smile at her when she looked up at him. "But I also understand your situation, so…it's not a problem."

"But it is!" she insisted, taking his hand into hers. "You should be able to see yourself in your own children."

"This is really bothering you, isn't it?" he asked softly.

"I saw a mother out with her baby…'Brandon' was his name," she said, her voice starting to thicken with emotion. "He was so cute, and I think that was what made me want to be able to have one. I want to be able to carry a life that looks like you…and like me."

"Like you?" he asked with an interested look. "Would that even be possible?"

"The skin overlay from my last upgrade uses DNA from my creator," Alia explained. At his puzzled expression she added, "Look at older pictures of me and I think it'll make sense."

"I'd really like that," he said softly. "I mean, being able to have a baby with you."

"It's hard, you know?" she said, starting to tear up. "When I was just 'Navigator Alia' I never thought about these kinds of things; I was content with my work and my friends. But now that I realize that I can't do something that human females can do…" She quickly drew the back of her hand across her eyes.

"Alia?" Max said, starting to sound concerned. "Are you saying that-"

"NO!" she cried, grabbing his hands and looking up at him again. "I'm glad I'm your wife! I'm glad we're together! And that's why I want to-" She cut herself off, unsure whether she wanted to tell him her plans or not, yet realizing that she had said enough to lead to…

"'Want to' what?" he asked, fulfilling a minor destiny. "Alia?"

"I've been thinking about finding one of Doctor Light's capsules and asking him to help me…to help us," she said, suddenly unable to look him in the eye.

"Capsules? I don't understand."

"Do you know who Doctor Light is?" she asked.

"Sure, I've read about him. He's the father of robotics. He created and built X."

She released his hands to clasp hers together tightly. "Well, he also made what we call 'Light Capsules'. X has found several of them during missions, where a hologram of Dr. Light appears and gives X different kinds of augmentations, to his armor or his abilities."

"That's cool," Max said softly. "It's like he gets to see his dad, even after so long. Do you know if the hologram's a recording or an AI?"

"We think he's an AI," she replied, calming down a little. "He's shown an awareness of current events, and… Anyway, I really hope he's an AI."

"Yeah, I guess you would, huh?" Max said sympathetically. "Well, if that's what you want, I'll support you any way I can."

"You will?" she gasped, her gaze snapping up to his again. "You're really okay with it?"

He ducked his head a couple of times with an awkward expression. "I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't worry about you; after all, you said that X found these capsules on missions, so they're probably in pretty dangerous places, right?"

Her face fell. "Yeah. And they don't always appear in the same place twice, so they're pretty hard to find."

"Well, here's what you do!" Max exclaimed confidently. "You get X to ask the good doctor if he'd be willing to take on another patient. If he agrees, then maybe you could set up to meet somewhere…safer."

The blond reploid's eyes widened as her disposition immediately brightened. "That…That's a wonderful idea, Max!" She hopped from her chair to hug his neck. "I'll talk to Commander Signas and see if he'd approve something like that!"

"S-Sounds like a plan," he stammered at the sudden display of affection; he liked it, but he still felt a little overwhelmed. "A-And ask him if there's anything I can do to help."

She pulled away from him, taking hold of his hands again, her eyes glowing with excitement. "I'm going to go talk to him right now!"

As she hurried from the room, Max chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I wonder if she even realizes that she'll be talking to her boss about our love life."

* * *

Layer drew in a deep breath to try to cool her overworking reactor as she sat before her personal computer. She had plugged in the data chip that Palette had given her, and was simply waiting for her nerves to allow her to open the folders on the external drive. "Here goes…" she said, licking her lips as she opened the first folder.

In it were hundreds of documents simply titled with dates. Opening them revealed his thoughts about the various missions he'd been on, similar to a journal. "Wow… He's done so much," she breathed, her eyes taking in every word to store into permanent memory while trying to not feel guilty for doing so.

The next folder contained videos, and she gasped as she realized that they were video backups of his memories from key points in his life. One video stood out in particular. "That's…Sigma?"

Sure enough, the video showed Zero fighting Sigma, but something was off. The main thing was that Sigma himself looked so…different. "He's always had his capes and been so bulky," she puzzled. "But here…he looks a lot thinner." What was also odd was that instead of his usual Z-Saber, Zero was wielding… "A pipe? When did he lose his weapon?" Still puzzled, she closed the file, only to realize that what she had just watched was his earliest recording. "What the…" She quickly checked the file properties, and gasped. "Oh, no… This was from when he was…." She quickly backed up to the parent folder, feeling like she had just seen something too personal for anyone other than the owner to see. "I'll…just go to the next folder…"

The next folder contained hundreds of image files, most of them dated very close together. "These look like they would have been during the Great Repliforce War," she thought out loud. "Well, here goes…"

Her mouth fell open as she saw image after image of Zero with a pretty young girl with long, brown hair partly covered by a red beret, and the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. "Wow…she's really cute," Layer breathed. "No wonder I can't get his attention. But why haven't I ever seen him with her?" she said as she continued to cycle through the images.

She blinked with a start when she suddenly found herself back at the first image. "That's it? Weird. It's almost like…she…" Acting on a hunch, she hurried back to the video folder and found the video file with the datestamp closest to that of the last image; she was hardly surprised to find that it was the last one on its respective list. "Please let me be wrong…." she shuddered as she started the video.

It showed the girl from the images lying on her back on a metal floor inside some kind of warehouse or equally large room. _"Iris!"_ she heard Zero call out as, from his perspective, he ran up to the prone figure. The girl opened her eyes and looked toward him. _"Zero…"_ she said in a weak voice. Layer watched transfixed as 'Iris' expressed her desire to live with Zero, safe from harm.

As the life left the girl's eyes and Zero cried out in his pain, the normally even-tempered navigator burst into tears as well. "That's why he's so cold…." she wept quietly. "That's why he doesn't care about relationships…" It all made perfect sense; to be hurt so deeply by the death of one so loved… "He's protecting himself. He doesn't want to be hurt again. He could never accept anyone again with that…with that kind of hurt."

Acting almost impulsively, she went back to the image folder and looked through every one of them again, seeing them as they were before the tragedy. "He looks so happy," she whimpered. "Oh Zero, can I take away your pain…?"

She knew that he'd never accept her the way things were, but what if…? She quickly dried her optics before shutting off her system, pulling the data chip, and hurrying from her quarters.

* * *

"Commander? May I speak with you for a minute?"

Signas straightened from his examination of the region's map and turned to face to the former Navigator with a small smile. "Ah, Alia; of course." He gestured to the double-doors across the room, and she followed him as he led the way into his office. Once inside, he gestured to one of the guest chairs as he moved to sit behind his desk. "What can I do for you?"

She had barely settled into her seat before she started squirming. "Sir? I was hoping…"

Signas waited patiently while the former navigator tried to put her sentence together. Of course he already had an idea of what she wanted to talk about, but he also knew that not only could he be wrong, but that she needed to say it herself.

Finally, she heaved s huge sigh. "Commander, I am requesting that the next time X or Zero makes contact with a Light Capsule, that they speak to him on my behalf."

"Indeed?" he said, steepling his fingers as he rested his arms on his desk. "May I know why?"

Alia blushed fiercely. "I think you already know, sir, but…" she raised her eyes to meet his. "If possible, I would like to consult with Dr. Light about an upgrade."

"The one we discussed recently?"

She straightened, trying to maintain her dignity. "If you are referring to the ability to carry life, then yes."

"Hm." The reploid officer studied her for an uncomfortably long time. Alia was starting to squirm in her seat again when he suddenly straightened and pressed a button on his desk. "Attention, please: Hunter Commander X, Hunter Commander Zero, and Hunter Commander Axl, please report to my office. I repeat: Hunter Commander X, Hunter Commander Zero, and Hunter Commander Axl, please report to my office. Thank you."

Alia watched the announcement with no small amount of interest: she'd always heard the commander give announcements over the PA system, but had never seen him doing it. It was an unimpressive thing, but interesting to her.

He finished the announcement, then turned his attention back to her. "None of them are on missions at the moment, so they should be here shortly."

"Y-Yes, sir," she stammered, wondering if he was planning what she hoped he was planning.

X and Zero were the first to arrive, followed shortly after by Axl. "S-Sorry, Commander," he said while rubbing the back of his neck. "I was having a hard time getting away from…well anyway, what's up?" he finished, saluting alongside the other two.

Signas rose to his feet and returned their salute as he moved to stand before them. "I need the three of you to find a Light Capsule."

"Sir?" X said with a puzzled look, then his eyes settled on Alia. "Yes, sir; I believe I understand."

"What?" Axl complained. "Someone clue me in, here."

"Do you recall the discussion we had shortly after Alia's…wedding?" Signas asked, albeit awkwardly.

"We talked about a few things, yeah," the next-gen reploid replied.

"Alia has requested an opportunity to speak with Dr. Light, and I would like the three of you to make that happen," Signas intoned.

"I'll check back in the area where I found Chase Cheetah," X offered.

"Thank you, X," Alia said warmly.

"I don't want to get your hopes up, though; I picked up the upgrade from him, so the capsule may not be there anymore," he added.

"Just do your best, gentlemen," Signas interjected. "That's all we're asking."

"We'll find one, Alia!" Axl exclaimed, raising a fist. "In fact, we'll make it a contest; whoever finds one first gets to have Alia's baby named after him!"

"What if it turns out to be a girl?" Zero quipped.

"And shouldn't the name of the child be up to the parents?" X added.

"Gentlemen, this is moot unless a capsule is found," Signas said, trying to get the conversation back on track. "I do not expect a 24/7 search; the chances are good that if a Maverick occupies an area, one of the good doctor's capsules will appear there. Simply ask him if he would be willing to hear Alia out and perhaps arrange a meeting place if possible."

"If it helps, I think he may already know about you," X said. "When I found one of his capsules during the Earth Crisis, he mentioned you by name."

"It'd help if a maverick appeared," Axl whined.

Just then the alert sounded. "Looks like you got your wish," Zero said as all five of them hurried out to the Situation Room.

A technician noticed Signas exiting the office and hopped to his feet to salute. "Commanders! Reports indicate two Mavericks have just appeared!"

"Details?" Signas prompted as he returned the salute.

"Nothing definite so far, sir!" the tech replied as he dropped his arm. "Early reports show that one is an infected sumo wrestler, but the other is currently unknown."

"Sumo wrestler?" Axl snorted.

"Since you find the idea of an infected, oversized member of our kind…amusing, you may find him and be amused to your heart's content," Signas said, leveling his gaze at the youngest Hunter.

"Y-Yes, sir," Axl replied, looking appropriately sheepish, touching the side of his helmet as he headed toward the exit. "Palette? Can you meet me at the Launchpad in five?"

"Where's the other one?" X asked as Axl departed. "I could take care of it."

Signas tapped a couple of button on the map display console; a large field of white covered the area. "Commander Zero; you learned a fire-channeling skill from your skirmish with Rage Lion, did you not?"

"That's right," Zero confirmed with a nod.

"Then you will handle…" Signas trailed off as the report updated. "Ah, here's the name… Avalanche Aardvark."

"On it, commander," the red Maverick Hunter acknowledged as he touched the side of his head. "Navigator Layer, meet me at the Launchpad immediately."

Alia winced at the distant and businesslike tone Zero used toward her friend.

"Don't worry, Alia," Signas said, laying a hand on her shoulder as the Maverick Hunters dashed form the room. "If there's a capsule out there, we'll find it. What you need to focus on right now is what you'll say to the doctor when you meet him."

"Y-Yes, sir," Alia replied, touched at her coworkers'…no, friends' support.

* * *

"U-Understood," Layer stammered after Zero briefed her in the Launchpad. As he teleported to the preset landing site, she grabbed her head and finally allowed herself to tremble violently; she had been on her way to see Douglas when the call from Zero had come in, and she had been far from ready to see him. "I'm…I'm a terrible person," she whimpered as she headed to her station. "How could I face him after seeing what I've seen? I feel like I've betrayed his trust." She fell into her seat, closed her eyes, and forced herself to take several slow, deep breaths before reaching out to her console to call up the information on Zero's target. "Avalanche Aardvark nee Stanley Frost…former arctic researcher, now retired…" her concentration faltered as one of the many images of Zero and Iris intruded into her thoughts. "Layer! Focus!" she hissed while smacking herself in the forehead. "He needs you right now!"

"Are you okay?" Palette's voice interrupted, causing the taller navigator to jump.

"I'm fine," Layer said almost reflexively, forcing herself to sit still.

"You looked at his stuff, didn't you?" she asked with clear concern.

"I did, but I'm fine," Layer replied, but the optical lubricant that from under her bangs told a different story.

Palette sighed, then leaned over to give her friend a gentle hug. "We'll talk after our boys' missions are done, okay?"

"O-Okay," Layer sputtered, squeezing the arm that lay across her chest. "Thank you."

Just then, Layer's console chirped, indicating a communication from Zero. Palette released her, patting her on the shoulder before heading back to her own station, and Layer quickly wiped her eyes before tapping the 'connect' button. "Layer here."

" _Zero here. Awaiting maverick data."_

She managed to give him the data, though she stopped several times as more of his ill-gotten information continued to distract her. "Y-Your Lion Claw sh-should be the most effective against him."

" _Got it, thanks. Are you okay?"_

She was somewhat taken aback by his question; Zero normally didn't ask about her well-being, so it took her several seconds to reply. "I-I'm fine," she lied.

Something about the pause on his end told her he didn't believe her. _"Very well. I'm coming up on the signal source. Going silent."_

"Good luck, Zero. Going silent." She muted her end and buried her face in her hands; had she more time, she would have been able to get her thoughts and feeling in order, but because of how quickly everything had happened… "How can he do this?" she cried into her hands. "How can he continue to function like nothing's wrong?"

"He buries it." To her surprise, X stood next to her chair. "He distracts himself with his work; that's why he's so agitated when there aren't any mavericks around. He needs them for the distraction."

She quickly wiped her eyes again as she stood from her seat to salute the senior hunter. "P-Please forgive my appearance, commander. I have no excuses."

"Easy there, Layer," X said, trying to calm the clearly agitated navigator. "Sit down before you fall down."

"Th-Thank you, sir," she said gratefully, lowering herself back into her seat.

"So, you've finally gotten to this point, huh?" he said with gentle humor.

"Wh-What do you mean?" she asked, alarmed. Did he know about…that…somehow?

X rubbed the back of his neck as he gestured at her console. "You've…really liked him for a long time, haven't you?" he asked, sounding uncomfortable with the concept he was trying to express.

"Since I first saw him, yes," she admitted as she gazed at the console where, on the other end, Zero was busy annihilating another Maverick.

"Maybe…" X took a deep breath; what did he know about relationships, anyway? The closest relationship he had was with the hologram of his long-dead creator. "Maybe you could invite him to go somewhere with Alia and Max? You know, the four of you?"

How Layer's face could suddenly pale and blush at the same time would probably become one of Earth's greatest mysteries. "I…I couldn't do that!" she exclaimed.

X looked puzzled. "I don't understand; you two work together, and you work together so well. What would be so hard about it?"

"I…I don't know," she lamented. "But…whenever I get near him…or he gets near me…I suddenly can't think straight."

"Well…" X took a moment to think about the problem the best he could. "What about having someone ask on your behalf?"

"I couldn't ask someone else; it's my problem."

"I don't get it," X complained. "Do you want to be with him or not? It sound like you're shutting down every solution-"

"I have an idea…sir," she interrupted as politely as she could. "It…should work."

X studied her for a minute. "Okay. As long as you've got it under control. Sorry for sticking my nose in your business."

"No, no," she replied, shaking her head and causing her purple lengths to sway. "Thank you for caring. I'm sorry for being so evasive; it's just…private."

"I think I understand," X said, not fully understanding. "Well, good luck then." His attention was then drawn to a beeping from her console. "Looks like Zero's calling. Take it easy," he said, raising a hand as he turned to walk away.

"Thank you, commander." She turned back to her console and pressed the 'connect' button with a shaky hand. "L-Layer here."

" _Zero here. Maverick down. I've learned Snow Slash."_

"Y-Yes, I see," she said, still distracted by her conversation with X, among other things. "I-It doesn't look like the Snow Slash d-does any damage, but it will freeze the t-target for a short time."

" _Layer? Are you okay? It sound like you have a 'hiccup' in your vocalization processes."_

"I'm fine," she lied, more easily than the previous time. "See you when you get back."

" _Right. Zero out."_

"Layer out." She cut the line, then slumped back in her chair, her normal cool, aloof demeanor gone as she trembled, thinking about what she planned to do.


	11. Working Toward a Future

**Chapter Eleven: Working Toward a Future**

Douglas looked up from his work as the door to his workroom opened, a smile forming as he saw who his guest was. "Hey, Layer!" he greeted as he put down his tools and reached for something to wipe his hands. "Have you decided on your new upgrade?"

"Y-Yes," the tall reploid confirmed as she pulled out a set of schematics and hesitantly handed them to him. "Could…you do this?"

The reploid mechanic let out a low whistle as he studied the print. "Going for a full replacement, huh? You know an upgrade of this magnitude'll use up about three, maybe four of your upgrade allotments?"

"I…I understand," she replied, casting her gaze to the floor.

"Hm," he grunted as he continued to study the schematics. "You know, this design looks familiar for some reason…"

"Y-You don't say…" Layer managed before forcing her vocal subroutines to stop stuttering.

To her relief, he simply shrugged. "Oh, well; I guess I've worked with so many designs that they're all starting to run together." He placed the print on a nearby counter and started to rub his hands together. "Man, I haven't had a challenge like this in a long time!"

"How long do you think It'll take?" the tall navigator asked hesitantly.

Douglas crossed his arms and looked toward the ceiling. "Well, if I have all the materials…servos…pumps…" Apparently satisfied, he shrugged as he looked over at her again. "I could actually have it done by the end of the day."

"Are you serious?" she gasped, glancing at the print. "But it's so complicated, isn't it?"

"It is," he admitted, "but I've been working with Reploid construction for a long time, so I've figured out how to streamline a lot of the processes. Besides," he said, waving a hand at the schematics, "these measurements are so precise that they'll take a lot of the guesswork out of this." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Did you create this yourself?"

"Y-Yes."

"Hm," he grunted again. "Maybe you missed your calling; maybe I should ask Signas to transfer you down here."

"I'm not…very good," Layer said, unable to look him in the eyes. "I had my computer help me with the…with the proportions."

"Well, I've got nothing else going on, so I'll get on this immediately," he told her as he moved the schematics to one of his many workbenches, this one holding some kind of machine. "I'll keep you updated."

"Thank you, Douglas," Layer murmured. "This really means a lot to me."

"No problem," he replied, waving a dismissive hand. "Now get out of here; I've got work to do." He smiled to himself as he turned to his work, only to nearly jump as the purple-haired navigator suddenly bowed deeply before hurrying from the room. "That was weird," he muttered to himself as the door slid shut. "You're welcome, I guess."

* * *

Layer had barely left the Engineering Department when a high-pitched and overly hyper voice called out her name. "Hey, wait up!" The tall navigator took a deep breath as Palette hurried up next to her. "You ready to talk?"

"I…guess I am," she replied hesitantly.

Palette grabbed her friend by the arm, nearly dragging the taller reploid to her own quarters. "Hurry up and let us in!" she exclaimed. "I want to hear everything!"

"Shhhhh!" Layer hissed as she tapped the key code into the panel next to her door. "Do you want everyone to know about it?"

"Eep!" Palette made a 'zip-the-lip' motion as the door slid open to her friend's quarters. "Sorry."

They made their way into the living room, where Layer headed into the kitchen as her guest settled into her usual seat by the coffee table. "I-Is peppermint okay?" she asked.

"For tea? Sounds great!" Palette chirped as she squirmed in her seat, clearly excited.

A few minutes later, Layer entered the living room with a steaming mug in each hand. "Here you go," she said, placing a mug in front of her friend before settling into her own seat. She was dreading the upcoming conversation, but at least it wouldn't be unexpected.

"So, what did you see?" Palette asked eagerly as she leaned forward in her seat. "When I was checking the file integrity I just saw a couple of pics of him and X, but they looked like promotional pics for HQ."

The tall navigator sighed heavily. "There were… m-mostly a lot of journals of his missions. There were also a lot of pictures in there, and some video recordings."

"Mission reports?" Palette scoffed with a wrinkle of her button nose. "Booooring. What about the videos?" she giggled, leaning across the table again. "And the images? Anything steamy?"

"P-Palette!" Layer gasped as she tried to lean away from her friend's eagerness. "The videos looked like memory backups of different times in his life."

"Ooo, tell me one!"

"Well…" she reflexively thought of the death of Iris, but shuddered to something safer. "I saw his first encounter with Sigma, back when Zero was first found by the Maverick Hunters."

"Wooowww…" the shorter reploid breathed. "I bet that'd make an awesome movie…"

"I suppose…"

"What about the images?" Palette was nearly laying across the table by this point. "Were they of Zero?"

"They…were," Layer confirmed. "A lot of them were with a…friend of his."

"X?"

"N-No," Layer replied, looking down at the tabletop. "It…It was a female reploid."

"A female reploid?" Palette repeated as she noticed her friend's posture. "Were they…?"

"It…looked like it," Layer replied, cringing at the idea of lying to one of her best friends.

"Do you know what happened to her?"

"She…I think she died during the Great Repliforce War," Layer replied with another cringe.

"Wow…" Palette breathed. "No wonder he isn't interested in relationships."

"Y-Yeah…"

The blonde reploid studied her coworker and friend for a moment before suddenly perking up. "Well, if anyone can make him forget his pain, it's you!" she chirped, hopping from her seat to hug her friend around the shoulders.

"Th-Thanks…" Layer stammered, hoping that Palette would be able to forgive her if – or perhaps when – she found out the truth.

* * *

" _No response, Commander,"_ X reported. _"As expected, the pickup of the upgrade likely caused the capsule to relocate. Sorry, Alia."_

"Don't worry about it X," Alia replied over Shortwave's shoulder. "Thank you for checking; Max and I really appreciate it."

" _No problem. Should I check out Rage Lion's area?"_

"Zero has already revisited that area," Signas intoned. "If you are up to it, head over to the restaurant where you fought Seismic Sloth; even though the conflict was geographically limited, it may have attracted the good doctor's attention."

" _Got it, commander. X out."_

"Shortwave out," X's newest navigator replied before cutting the comm.

Alia took a moment to study her 'replacement'. "So, how do you like being a navigator, Shortwave?"

"It's really cool!" the redhead squealed with her fists under her chin. "Being able to be part of something awesome? I mean, I didn't mind being a receptionist; I know it's important too. But being able to gather information and give it to X and help him beat mavericks?" She blushed lightly. "It's…great!"

Signas laid a hand on her shoulder. "I hope, in retrospect, you don't feel that I strong-armed you into the position."

"Not at all!" she exclaimed. "At first you seemed harsh about it, but I was also pretty intimidated by you, so I may have misunderstood."

"Are you saying that I do not intimidate you now?"

"Well…yeah, kinda," she admitted. "You're a lot taller than I am, and that can be kind of scary in its own way, right?"

"I…suppose…"

"You are pretty tall for a Reploid, commander," Alia told him. "And Shortwave's pretty short for a reploid."

"Hey!" The navigator protested, sticking out her tongue.

"Well…" Signas found himself uncharacteristically surprised by their words. "It was never my intent to distress you; I simply gave an order and expected it to be followed. That is what I am used to."

"Understood, commander!" Shortwave chirped, hopping from her chair to salute him. "I'm sorry for my insubordination, however minor."

"It is of no concern at this point," Signas said. "You have executed your duties near-flawlessly and should be proud of your efforts."

"I'll second that," X's voice interjected as he entered the Navigation Room. "Not to knock you, Alia, but she's been doing a fantastic job. We work well together, actually."

"R-Really?" Shortwave squeaked at the sudden appearance of the object of her affection. "You really think so?"

"Well, sure," he replied, joining them to smile at his navigator. "You're brief and to-the-point, and that makes my job a lot easier."

"Th-Thank you, Commander X," she stammered with stars in her eyes. "Are you free Friday night?"

"I…" X took a step back, surprised by the sudden question, asked among mixed company.

"Navigator…" Signas intoned, "perhaps that is a question better asked off-duty."

Shortwave's eyes grew wide as her face flushed molten; apparently she'd forgotten that the others were around. "Oh! I'm…"

"I…I was able to locate a Light Capsule," X stammered, turning an interesting shade of red himself.

"Indeed?" Signas said as Alia gasped. "Excellent. Report."

X snapped to attention with a salute. "I teleported to the designated area, landing in a field near the restaurant so I wouldn't alarm anyone. I had only moved a few feet from my position when Dr. Light's capsule appeared."

"Did you…?" Alia asked, her eyes hopeful.

X gave her a warm smile. "I told him about your…situation, and he seemed to be very interested. He told me that he would contact you in the next two to three days."

"Me?" Alia gasped, to which X simply nodded.

"Did you collect the upgrade?" Shortwave giggled.

X presented his arm, transforming it to the X-Buster. "It's an improved version of his previous weapons booster upgrade," he informed them. "'Same song, different year' as I think Axl would put it."

"Still, every bit helps," Signas said.

"May I…?" Shortwave rose from her seat again, reaching for X's transformed arm.

"Navigator…" Signas warned.

"Eep!" she squeaked, falling into her seat again.

"Don't worry," X said, shifting his arm back to normal, "I'll show you on Friday."

"Oh. Okay," she replied, then her eyes widened. "Okay!"

Signas simply chuckled with a shake of his head as he turned to head to the doors to the Situation Room. "Alia, would you come with me, please?"

"Yes, sir," Alia acknowledged before turning to her former partner. "Thanks again, X."

"I'm glad I could help," he said as Shortwave nodded vigorously.

On her way out, she paused to study the two of them before continuing out the door to follow Signas. She sighed in response to a nagging feeling that she'd never work with X again.

* * *

A chirping from her terminal drew Layer's attention from her reading, and she hurried over to answer the call. "Layer here."

" _Yeah, it's Douglas in Engineering."_

"H-Hello Douglas," she replied nervously. "Are you c-calling with an update?"

" _Yup!"_ he said cheerfully. _"Just wanted to let you know that the work is going smoothly, but I wanted to talk to you about something that has me a little worried."_

She swallowed hard. "Wh-what's the matter?"

" _Well…"_ she could almost see him on the other end, trying to figure out what to say. _"See, the thing is, this is an older body type, mechanically speaking. I could have this done in an hour, but it'd be a serious downgrade from where you are now."_

"I see…" Was her plan not going to work?

" _I just wanted to ask if it'd be okay for me to modify your plans as long as it doesn't change the appearance."_

She breathed a sigh of relief. "That's fine, Douglas; thank you for asking."

There was an uncomfortably long pause from the other end. _"Listen, are you_ _sure_ _you want this style? You're going from tall and mysterious to short and cute. You realize that, don't you? I know it's ultimately none of my business, but that's a pretty radical change."_

"I understand," Layer replied evenly. "I am aware that this may have an effect on my work relationships. Just…" How could she ask without sounding suspicious? "…please don't tell Commander Signas. I haven't even told Palette or Alia."

" _Keeping it a surprise, huh?"_ he asked in an amused tone.

"Y-Yeah."

" _Okay, fair enough,"_ he said, causing her to breathe another sigh of relief. _"As long as you aren't doing anything_ _too_ _crazy, I don't have to tell the boss anything. I hope everyone enjoys your surprise."_

"Thank you. Me, too."

" _Well, that's all-Oh! Making the changes might add about a day to the job, just FYI."_

"Understood, Douglas; thank you for your hard work," she said while trying not to stutter.

" _No problem! Douglas out."_

Layer ended the communication with a shuddering breath as it hit her; it was really happening. "Zero…maybe now you'll notice me…?"

* * *

"Please, sit," Signas offered, indicating the chairs in front of his desk as Alia followed him into the office. After they had settled into their seats he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk and his chin on his folded hands. "So, are you ready to meet up with the father of robotics?"

"Not really," she admitted as she shifted in her seat. "I'm excited but nervous at the same time."

"That's certainly understandable," he said with a sympathetic chuckle. "Meeting our creator, who usually appears in conflict-ridden areas and primarily only to X…? I can understand that."

"Yes, sir." She awkwardly glanced up at her former boss a couple of times. "But I'm assuming that's not what you wanted to talk about; am I right?"

"Indeed," Signas replied, his hands falling into his lap as he sat up fully. "I…hesitate to make this request, but…"

"You want me to give progress reports about my interactions with Dr. Light, as well as any upgrades that may result?" Alia said, feeling emboldened by his hesitation.

"That is correct, Mrs. Hannity," Signas replied, and Alia assumed that he was stressing her title to let her know that he would respect her position. "Even though Maverick Hunter resources have been used to assist you, these have all been at my discretion and due to my own interest, so it does not obligate you in any way."

"So, if I understand you correctly, that means that you'll respect my privacy?"

"That is correct."

She sighed heavily. "I would love to help, Commander, but understand that this also involves Max, so I'll need to check with him first. I'm sure he'd be okay with it, but…"

"I believe I understand," Signas politely interrupted. "Your life is no longer just your own; you have given him authority over you, just as he has given you authority over him. I suppose it could be said that the two of you are, in a sense, one person."

"I hadn't thought of it that way, but I think you're right," Alia giggled.

"I believe one of the humans' books speaks of such a concept," Signas mused, then caught himself. "But that is a discussion for another time, if such discussion needs to be had."

"Yes, sir."

"Anyway, I would be grateful for anything you would be willing to disclose," he stated in an attempt to bring the matter to a close. "Thank you for your time, Mrs. Hannity."

She blushed at the use of her still-new title. "You're welcome, commander. I'll help as much as I can."

"Dis-" He was about to say 'dismissed' but, considering that she technically wasn't his subordinate, instead opted for the more conventional closure. "Have a good day."

She blinked as she hesitantly rose to her feet. "Y-You too, sir."

She could feel his gaze on her back as she left his office and headed toward the doors from the Situation Room. From there she headed toward the elevator and entered, the doors closing behind her. "What if I don't go back to work?" she mused as the elevator descended. "Will I have to leave HQ?" The building had been her home for so long that she couldn't imagine living anywhere else. "Shortwave seems to be doing a great job; maybe they won't even want – or need – me back." She worked on pushing the sobering thought aside as the doors opened, revealing the hallway that led, among other places, to her quarters, where she knew Max would be waiting for her.

"Hey!" her husband greeted, turning from the computer as she entered her quarters; from the look of the screen, he had been reading something having to do with masculinity. "How'd things go at the office?"

"Max?" Alia started, knotting her fingers. "Commander Signas has asked me to tell him how things go with Dr. Light. I told him I wanted to talk with you about it first since…well…"

"I think I get it," he replied easily. "It's fine, as long as you don't give…you know…too many personal details. Tell him how your talks with the doctor go, the steps you go through if things work out, and…if you…we…mange to, uh…conceive."

"You don't think that last part's too personal?" Alia asked, suddenly feeling very vulnerable.

"Nah," he said, waving a hand. "Most couples love telling their friends when they're expecting, so it's cool."

"Okay, Max," she said with a shy smile. "I'll take your word for it."

"Thanks." He studied her briefly. "Listen, I know that you know me as 'Max', but now that we're together do you think you could call me 'David'? That's my real first name, after all."

She blushed attractively. "It'll take some getting used to, but…okay…David."

He smiled fondly at her. "Man, I already like how you say it."

"W-Well," she said, blushing a deeper shade of red, "if everything's fine, then I'll head back and let the commander know."

"Okay. Do you want me to come with you?"

"N-" She stopped herself with a thoughtful expression. "Yes, you should; we're a couple, so we should do this together."

"You're right," he said, getting to his feet to offer his hand. "I should've thought of that. Sorry, that wasn't very manly of me."

She giggled as she linked her fingers with his. "It's okay; this is going to take some getting used to for me, too."

They gave each other awkward glances as they headed toward the elevator at the end of the hall, and Max released his wife's hand as they entered the elevator. "I don't know where we have to go, so you'll need to lead from here."

She smiled softly as she reclaimed his hand, reaching out to press the appropriate button with her free hand. "You can count on me," she said, causing him to smile.

The elevator took them up to the command level and the doors opened, and Max's mouth fell open at the sight before him. "Wooowwww…" he breathed. "It looks so…'computer-y'"

She simply giggled again as she led him out of the elevator and across the room to Signas' office door. She reached out to knock, only to jump as the door opened, seemingly on its own, to reveal the room's occupant. "Oh! Commander!" she squeaked. "You started me!"

"My apologies, Mrs. Hannity," the tall reploid intoned. "I must admit that I have been eager to hear your response. Mr. Hannity, a pleasure as always."

"Y-You too, sir," Max replied, also recovering from the surprise.

"May I assume that you are here with your response, then?" Signas asked as he stepped aside to let the couple pass.

"Yes, sir," Alia replied as she and her husband followed the commander to his desk, the three of them settling into the seats around it.

Signas showed an uncharacteristically eager expression as he leaned forward to rest his elbows on the desk and his chin on his clasped hands. "What have you decided?"

The young couple looked at each other, then Alia ducked her head so Max spoke: "We're fine with it, sir, to a point. She'll give you an overview of how her talks with Dr. Light go, whatever things he has her do, and if the whole thing…succeeds."

"By 'succeeds', may I assume that you are referring to a successful pregnancy?"

"Sure," Max replied, unsuccessfully trying to keep his cool. "Understand, boss; this is a really personal thing you're wanting us to talk about, so…"

"I believe I understand," Signas said sympathetically. "Please believe me when I say that neither I nor anyone else wishes to invade your privacy."

"I believe you, sir," Alia said as Max nodded agreement.

"That being said," he continued, "please also understand that, if successful, this will be groundbreaking as far as human/reploid relations, as well as reploid evolution in general."

"I think we both get it," Max said, looking to his wife for confirmation. "That's why we're agreeing to what we are; we'd like to help as much as we can. Reasonably can, at least," he finished with an awkward grin and a single-shoulder shrug.

"Then you will have the cooperation and the gratitude of Maverick Hunter Headquarters," Signas said, rising from his chair to his full height.

"Yeah…" Max murmured as he looked up at the large reploid. "Glad to hear it."

"He is pretty tall, isn't he?" Alia giggled.

"Yeah…"

Signas briefly studied his guests before quickly sitting down again.

* * *

 _*chirp chirp*_

Layer quickly hurried to her communications terminal. "L-Layer here."

" _Douglas here. She's ready."_

The navigator gasped, her hand unconsciously flying to her chest. "A-Already?!"

" _Already! You can come in and transfer whenever you're ready."_

Layer froze, nearly unable to speak. Was it really happening? Was she really going to have a new body? And…would it be enough to win Zero's affection? "I…I-I'll be r-right th-there," she managed. "Layer out."

" _All right, see you shortly. Douglas out."_

Layer ended the communication, her eyes open but staring at nothing as the weight of what she was about to do sank in. Palette's infiltration of Zero's quarters, her own intrusion into her crush's personal life and files…they all led to this.

Taking a deep breath she got up from her seat and, after one last look in the mirror, headed out of her quarters.

The journey down the many halls of HQ was a blur to her, and she found herself in engineering as lot sooner than she expected.

"Ah, there you are!" Douglas exclaimed as she entered the main room. "Right over here."

Layer numbly followed the master engineer to one of the many pods used for storing reploids. She watched as he went up to one in particular and typed on a keypad on the side of the pod and the cover slid open, revealing… "Oh." It was just like in the pictures…

"We can transfer whenever you're ready," Douglas said quietly as he indicated a pod next to the one occupied by the new body. He'd done several transfers in the past, so he knew how complicated it could be for the 'patient'. "Just climb in here, and I'll take care of everything."

Layer took another minute to study her future home before slowly heading to the pod where Douglas waited. After flashing him a timid smile, she carefully stepped into the pod and relaxed, her body naturally settling into the seat within.

"Are you ready?" Douglas asked; a final confirmation was required, and they both knew it.

Layer nodded before realizing that she didn't know if she would have the same voice. "R-Ready," she replied, knowing it would be the last thing she said in her old body.

Douglas smiled as he reached out to pat her on the shoulder. "Then see you on the other side." With that, he pressed a button on the side of the pod, and the cover slowly closed over her. Through the pod's window she saw him move to a console a short distance away. _"Shut down all of your nonessential systems,"_ he instructed her through a speaker mounted in the pod. After she had done so he pressed a few buttons on the console. _"Connection confirmed."_ He looked over at her. _"Are you sure you're ready?"_

She knew it wasn't as though he couldn't move her back, but still… "I'm ready."

He gave her a nod before pressing a few more buttons. Then, with a flourish, he pressed one final button, and Layer's world went dark…


	12. The Reveal

**Chapter Twelve: The Reveal**

Layer tried to ignore the gazes sent her way as she made her way to the Rec Room. She was still getting used to her new proportions, so she was taking more care than usual in how she carried herself.

As she entered the Rec Room, she reached up and ran her fingers through her new hair; it was longer and fuller than she was used to, but she found the soft brown color that spilled between her fingers oddly comforting. She felt something nearly fall off her head and quickly scrambled to grab the beret that fell into her open hands. She paused, examining the all-red garment held in white-gloved hands. "So different…" she mused again in a still-unfamiliar voice, then quickly caught herself as she passed through the doors into the otherwise empty room. She immediately moved to a seat opposite the entrance, a short couch, and settled in to wait. She knew that Zero always started his day by stopping by the Rec Room to drink tea before heading to the Combat Room to train.

She knotted her white-gloved fingers nervously as she waited; ultimately, she didn't know how he would react to seeing her in her new body, but she hoped that it would make him happy that she thought of him. In fact, she was betting that he would…literally, almost; she had used three of her future upgrades in the hopes that he would accept her, after all.

She nearly jumped out of her seat as the door opened, revealing her crush. "G-Good morning, Zero," she managed to say.

The maverick hunter froze mid-step in response to an old yet familiar voice, blocking X's and Axl's progress into the room. His head turned mechanically toward her with his eyes nearly the size of saucers. "Wh-What…?"

"Hey, Zero!" Axl protested. "You're blocking traffic! Move!"

"Oh, no…" X breathed as he caught sight of the room's occupant.

Layer slowly rose from her seat and bowed slightly before hesitantly approaching the red-clad hunter. "I-I h-hope the morning finds you well," she said as she carefully reached out toward him, intending to rest an encouraging hand on his arm.

Zero's eyes widened as long-suppressed memories started to return...

 _"Don't go, Zero! Don't fight him!"_

 _"Zero, please don't fight with my brother…"_

 _"Let's live in a world where only reploids exist…"_

 _"Forgive me, Zero!"_

The maverick hunter drew a shuddering breath as he started to tremble…

* * *

Alia's eyes opened to the familiar view of her quarters from inside her recharging pod. The steady thrumming of her reactor sounded in her audio receptors until her sound suppression subroutines initiated, filtering out the ambient noise.

The glass door on her recharging pod slid open, and she smiled to herself as she stepped out into her otherwise unoccupied room, ready to start her day. She had booted an hour earlier than usual because her husband would be stopping by on his way to work. She was still annoyed that they still weren't living together, but she understood that humans had needs that didn't apply to reploids, and that until her situation with Maverick Hunter Headquarters was worked out they would need to continue to live separately.

Her smiled broadened at a *chirp* at the door, and she hurried over to slap the control button, revealing her very special someone. "Good morning, David!" she squealed as she threw herself into his arms.

"Good morning," he chuckled as he squeezed his bride. "Man, it feels so good to have someone looking forward to seeing me."

"Same here," he cooed as she released him, taking his hand to lead him into her quarters. "Can I make you some tea?"

"Yes, please," he replied, placing a kiss on her cheek.

"Then go ahead and sit anywhere and I'll be out in a few minutes," she replied, releasing his hand to head into the small kitchen.

He watched his wife – her bodysuit-clad bottom, specifically – as she left the room, and shook his head with an expression of wonder. "Dave, you're one lucky guy," he murmured to himself as he settled into one end of a loveseat; he had decided that before he left for work he would make sure to give his woman some serious cuddling.

Alia came out of the kitchen a few minutes later, holding two steaming mugs. "Here you go," she said, holding out one of the mugs toward him. "You like green tea, right? Should give you a nice caffeine boost to help start your day."

"Thanks," he replied with a grin. "This is better than that crap coffee we have at work."

She settled into the seat next to him and took a sip of her tea before turning her eyes on him. "Hey, I have an idea; since I…well, don't have a job right now, could I visit you during your lunch break?"

He blinked with an annoyed expression, causing her a little worry. "Well, now I feel stupid; I don't know why I never thought of that before." His grimace faded to a warm smile. "That would be awesome, beautiful. It'd definitely break the tedium of my day. Thanks."

She blushed attractively as she ducked her head. "What time is your lunch?"

"Two to three."

She blinked, her blush starting to fade. "That's kind of late, isn't it?"

"I prefer a five-three shift," he replied easily, leaning back in the loveseat. "Makes the part after lunch seem to go more quickly."

"That makes sense," she said with a shrug. "Well, I can be there at 1:50 then, if you'd like."

"I'd very much like," he said with a smile, leaning forward to place his mug on the coffee table before them. He then carefully took her mug and placed it next to his before taking her hands in his own. She knew what was coming when he started to lean toward her, and she matched his movement, closing her eyes as their lips drew toward each other…

A sudden, loud cry nearly caused them to fall off the couch.

"What in the world was that?" Max gasped, still recovering from the shock.

Alia's eyes narrowed…then widened. "That was Commander Zero!" She shot to her feet and ran for the door. "Come on!"

"Where are we going?" he asked as he followed her out the door.

"The Rec Room!" she yelled over her shoulder. "Zero always starts his day there! I'm sure that's where he is!"

Not knowing how to respond, he simply followed her down the hallways as she ran toward the familiar gathering place.

After sprinting down several hallways, they finally arrived at the automatic doors to the Rec Room, which obligingly opened for them. They hurried inside to find Zero struggling in the grips of his two comrades-in-arms. "X, what's going on?" Alia demanded, then followed X's gaze across the room and gasped before bolting to a nearby communication panel. "Commander Signas, we have an intruder in the Recreation Room!"

"What is it, love?" Max puffed as he finally entered the room. He then saw an unfamiliar face at the other side of the room, curled up on one of the sofas. She was obviously short but taller than Shortwave, with long, brown hair and large, beautiful blue eyes. She wore a dress-like garment that covered her from her neck to her knees, blue and red with gold trim. 'Leggings' colored the same as the dress covered her legs. "Who's that?"

At that moment Zero let out a cry, managing to break free of his friends' grips and drawing his Z-Saber. "Y-You're dead!" he yelled at the stranger.

In spite of his fatigue Max suddenly moved impossibly fast, putting himself between the girl and the distraught hunter with his own blades drawn. "Mister Zero sir, please calm down! Alia, make sure she's okay!"

Without a second thought, Alia hurried over to the girl's side and plopped down next to her on the couch. "I-It's okay, sweetheart; nobody's going to hurt you." She was a little concerned about comforting an intruder, but ultimately decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"Alia…" the girl whimpered. "I'm so sorry…"

Alia blinked at the use of her name. "How…How do you know my name?"

The red beret slid from her head as she turned glistening sapphire eyes on her 'savior'. "It's me, Alia… I'm…I'm Layer."

The former navigator's eyes nearly bugged out. "L-Layer?"

The door to the Rec Room slid open again, and Signas, followed by Palette and Shortwave, hustled into the room. "What's going on here?" he demanded.

"She's dead!" Zero yelled as his fellow hunters tried to subdue him again.

"Compose yourself, Hunter Commander!" Signas barked before turning his eyes on the intruder. "Wait… Y-You're supposed to be…dead…"

"YYYYAAAUUUUUGH!" Zero screamed, throwing off X and Axl and raising his Z-Saber as he dashed toward the intruder. "YOU'RE DEAD!"

"Mister Zero!" Max cried out as he brought his own blades up, crossing them to stop Zero's downswing. "Please stop!"

The blades collided in a flash of light, momentarily blinding everyone in the room. When the light faded, Alia hesitantly opened her eyes, half-expecting to see her beloved cut in half by the tortured maverick hunter's blade, only to find him on one knee with his blades still crossed above him, desperately trying to keep the Z-Saber from hitting its target.

"Alia…" Max grunted through his teeth, "…get her out of here."

"Come on," Alia said, waving the other navigators over as she took the brown-haired reploid by the hand. "Let's go."

"Wait!" Zero yelled as he drew back his blade, only to be tackled by X and Axl.

"Come on, Fruit Loops," Axl grunted as he struggled with the distraught hunter. "Let's get you somewhere where you can cool off."

"Not now, Axl," X admonished as he wrestled with one of Zero's arms. "Save the jokes for later."

"Who's joking?" Axl countered as he tried to keep the green blade away from his face.

As X and Axl dragged Zero out the door Signas approached Max, who was struggling to his feet, and extended his hand. "That was very brave of you, putting yourself in harm's way like that. Commander Zero is one of our best Hunters."

"Thanks," Max grunted as he accepted the proffered hand to pull himself to his feet. "I was starting to worry that Alia would be a widow after less than a month of marriage."

"Do you know what any of this is about?" Signas asked.

"No, sir," Max replied. Then, his eyes widened and he quickly checked his watch. "Oh, crud! I don't have time to stick around and find out, either! I've got to get to work!"

"I will have one of our drivers take you there, if you wish," the commander offered with a concerned expression. "You…do not appear to be in any condition to be walking right now."

"I appreciate it," Max puffed, still trying to catch his breath.

Signas gestured toward the exit before leading the way. "In the meantime, I shall find out what I can and, if you would be willing to stop by after work, we will put our heads together to try to come to a solution to the present problem."

"I'm not sure how I can help," Max told him as he followed while shaking out his aching arms. "But if you think I could be useful, I'll see what I can do."

"I believe you will be quite useful…though I do not mean to give you the impression that I think of you as little more than a resource."

"I didn't get that," Max replied as he followed the tall reploid to an unfamiliar section of the building. "By the way; where are we going?"

"To the vehicle depot," Signas replied. "That is where we keep our fleet of vehicles for use at a moment's notice."

"So it's a garage?"

The walking supercomputer blinked. "I…suppose you could call it that."

"I'm just messing with you, chief," Max chuckled. "You call it a 'vehicle depot' then it's a 'vehicle depot'."

"Very well," Signas replied, unsure of how to reply. Humans could certainly be unpredictable…but that was one thing the commander admired about them. "I will have Outrun, our best driver, transport you to your workplace."

"Thanks again," Max replied. "What are you planning on doing with your guest in the meantime?"

"Guest?" The question actually took Signas by surprise. "Ah. I intend to have her kept in a holding cell until we can determine whether or not she's a threat to HQ."

"Fair enough. I'll make sure to head straight here after work and see what I can do."

"Thank you," Signas replied with a short nod. "Ah, here we are." He led Max through a set of doors into a warehouse-sized room full of cars, trucks and various aircraft. "Outrun! Are you here?"

"Righthere,Commander!" A dark-skinned reploid with hair nearly the color of pitch appeared seemingly out of nowhere and saluted. "WhatcanIdoforyou?"

"I need you to transport Mr. Hannity here to his place of employment, please."

"Rightaway,Commander!" the speedy reploid replied. "Comewithme,please."

It took a moment for Max to parse the rapid syllabic sequence. "L-Lead the way, sir."

Outrun might have blinked in surprise, but it was hard to tell. "CommanderSignas,thisisahuman. Willhebeokaywithmedrivinghim?"

"Just take it easy on the turns, and he should be fine."

"'Should be'?" Max repeated as he cautiously followed the driver to a hover sedan. "Well, my insurance is current, so…"

As the car sped through the depot exit, Signas sighed heavily. "Now to tend to our guest…"

* * *

The quartet of women sat uncomfortably in Layer's quarters. None of them were quite sure what to say in light of Zero's behavior in the Rec Room.

"So…" Palette started, trying to break the silence, "I guess it didn't go the way you'd hoped, huh?"

Layer simply stared at her white-gloved, clasped hands in her lap.

"I never thought I'd ever see him act like that," Shortwave remarked, looking around at the other girls. "He's always been so…level-headed."

"Yeah…" Palette agreed in a subdued tone.

"What have I done?" Three heads looked up at the brown-haired navigator's words. "I just...I just wanted him to love me, but…" Tears started to trickle down her cheeks, dripping onto her clasped hands. "…now I'm sure he hates me."

"I'm sure he doesn't hate you," Palette said consolingly, though she didn't sound very confident. "I'm sure you just…surprised him. Once he gets over his shock and you explain everything I'm sure he'll forgive you. Right, Alia?"

All the former navigator could do was helplessly lift her hands before letting them drop into her lap. "I…I don't know. I've never seen him like this before, so… I just hope X and Axl can calm him down somehow." She found herself wishing that her husband was there; she was sure he could help them find an answer. "I'll…I'll talk to David later and see what he thinks."

"David?" Shortwave asked with a puzzled look.

"Er, Max," Alia amended. "He asked me to start calling him by his first name a while ago."

"Ah."

Everyone suddenly jumped as Layer burst into tears, loud sobs shaking her whole body. It only took a moment for the other three to respond, giving her tissues and holding her and saying whatever comforting words they could think of. Alia knew, however, that tissues and comforting words would not solve the problem, but a conversation between the distraught navigator and the grieving maverick hunter.

* * *

"…so she transferred herself into a new body, hoping it would…get Zero's attention," Alia finished as she sat before her former commander.

"I see," Signas grunted as he sat cross-armed behind his desk. "Well, it would seem that she succeeded, though not in the way she intended."

"Yes, sir."

The commander sighed once, then leaned his elbows on the desktop. "Mrs. Hannity; does Navigator Layer's new body look familiar to you?"

She thought for a moment. "No… No, it doesn't. Why?"

"Hm." Signas rose from his seat and reached across his desk to tap some buttons that Alia never knew were there. "What I am about to show you is classified information, known only to me at this time. For the time being, you are not to reveal this to anyone else; is that understood?"

"I understand," Alia replied, sitting up straighter as she unconsciously took on her more professional demeanor.

"You have, of course, heard about the Great Repliforce War," he said as he tapped more buttons on his desk.

"Of course," she replied. "I was working with Gate at the time, but it was hard to not hear about it," she explained, then blinked in surprise as she realized that she no longer had the pain around her colleague's loss like she used to.

"Indeed…" Signas grunted as he pressed a final button; a three-dimensional holographic projection appeared over his desk; that of a female reploid with long hair and wearing a beret and dress. "This…is Iris. She was the sister of Colonel of Repliforce…and Zero's operator."

"Operator?"

"That's what they were called before the term was changed to 'navigator'," he explained.

"Wait…" Alia murmured, thinking about Zero's behavior as she studied the image. "Were she and Zero…close?" The reploid commander simply nodded solemnly, and she sighed with a sympathetic expression. "No wonder he reacted the way he did. Layer…you idiot."

"Due to the…unfortunate circumstances, they were forced to fight each other on the Final Weapon satellite. I do not know all the details, but I do know that her death at his hands affected him greatly."

"I can imagine," she breathed. "Poor Zero…"

Signas tapped a few more buttons, and the image disappeared. "I would like to hold off on divulging any more information until your husband is with you. I have requested his assistance in this matter and think it best to discuss this further only when he is present."

"Then why did you tell me this much?" Alia asked.

"So you could tell him when you meet him for lunch," Signas answered simply.

"How did you-" Alia started before catching herself. "Right. I'll make sure to talk to him about this."

"Thank you."

"Well, if you don't need me for anything more, I should get going," Alia said, getting to her feet. "David's lunch is at two-o-clock, and it'll take me a while to get there."

"I could have Outrun drive you," Signas offered. "He provided transportation for your husband this morning."

Alia could literally feel the synthetic blood drain from her face. "Is…Is he okay?"

The commander gave a slight yet sympathetic smile. "Outrun reported that your husband arrived safely, yes."

"That's a relief," she breathed. "With the way the morning went, I've been worried about him. Thank you, sir; I'll check in with Outrun, then."

"Thank you again, Mrs. Hannity. I look forward to finding out what you and your husband are able to discover."

Something about the conversation caused her to pause by the door. "Commander? There's one thing I don't understand."

"What is that?"

She gave herself another moment to put her sentence together. "If you have the most advanced processors available to reploids, why do you think David could help?"

"Intuition," Signas replied immediately. "Humans have always outclassed us in this area, but your husband seems to have an even greater developed intuition than most. I believe that he will be able to see what's going on 'behind the scenes' and help come to a solution that will be of benefit to all."

"Huh." Alia mulled his words over for a moment, then grinned. "Do you mind if I tell him that, too?"

"If you think it would help," Signas replied, clearly missing the joke.

Alia shook her head, her grin resolving into a smile as she left the commander's office. From there, she headed to the elevator and took it down to the ground floor. Upon exiting, she made her way down the infrequently-used hallway to the vehicle depot.

Outrun was there to greet her. "Yourhuman-Imeanhusband-wasdeliverdtoworksafely,MissAlia," he said, snapping a salute.

"Thank you, Outrun," she said while trying to not giggle at the driver's nervous expression. "Would you be willing to take me there? I'm meeting him for lunch, and Commander Signas has asked me to relay some information to him."

"Hecontactedmeshortlybeforeyouarrived," Outrun informed her as he dropped the salute, causing her to flinch; she never could get used to how fast he moved. "Doyoumindifwetakethefastestcar? Nodisrespectintended,butdrivingyourhusbandtoworkwas…boring."

Alia laughed out loud at her coworker's situation. "I can imagine. Yes, that would be great; the sooner I can see David, the better."

"Rightthisway,then," he said before moving to the appropriate vehicle. Fortunately, she was able to follow him thanks to his trail of afterimages. Why they never made him a Maverick Hunter she'd probably never know.

She settled into the back seat of the car as he performed a quick check of the vehicle. Three seconds later, he carefully got into the driver's seat and they started off.

"What'sitlikebeingmarriedtoahuman?" he asked as they headed out of the depot doors.

"Huh? A human?" She hadn't expected that particular question. "I...guess I don't think about it much, really. I mean, I know my husband's a human, but…" She shrugged, even though she knew her driver wouldn't be able to see the gesture. "…I guess I think like David; I don't see humans or reploids, I just see people. At least, I see them that way now."

"We'vearrived,MissAlia."

She blinked in surprise before looking out her window. Sure enough, they were stopped outside of the company where Max worked, and she smiled with a shake of her head. "Thanks for the ride, Outrun. Will you be able to pick me up in an hour or should I make other arrangements?"

"I'llbehere."

"Thanks," she said as she got out of the car. "See you in about an hour, then."

"Enjoyyourtimewithyourhusband," he said through the passenger-side window before the car disappeared in a blur.

She stood there for a moment longer, shaking her head at the sight. "We have all kinds at HQ, don't we?" After one final glance in the direction where Outrun had zoomed off, she headed into the building. Just inside was a large desk where a young blonde woman sat filing her nails. "Hello, I'm here to see David Hannity."

The girl glanced up from her 'work' before setting the emery board aside. "Is he expecting you? Do you have an appointment?"

"I-" Alia was at a momentary loss for words. "I don't… Would it help if told you I'm his wife?"

The receptionist gave her a dubious look. "He's cute, but not that cute. Hang on," she said as she reached for her phone, putting it to her ear as she pushed a few buttons. After a moment, she spoke again: "Mr. Hannity? Someone who claims to be your wife is here. Long blonde hair, blue eyes…" her gaze flicked to her guest's chest. "…nice assets…"

Alia inwardly cringed, wondering what kind of people her husband worked with.

She regained her composure in time for the receptionist to hang up the phone. "He'll be down in a few," she informed Alia before picking up her board and filing her nails again. "You can have a seat while you wait."

"Um, thanks," Alia replied, then headed over toward the rows of seat while mentally shaking her head. "I'll never understand human businesses…"

A few minutes later a set of doors opened on the other side of the waiting room, and Max exited. "Hey, beautiful! Sorry to keep you waiting."

Alia hopped to her feet and excitedly hurried over to her husband. "It's okay. I got here a lot sooner than I thought I would."

"Mr. Outrun?"

She nodded with a giggle. "I was here before I knew it."

"That was my experience, too," he said with a chuckle as he opened the door outside for her. "There's a sub sandwich shop nearby; you okay with that?"

"Sounds good," she replied with a smile as she took hold of his arm, leaning into him as they walked.

They entered the restaurant and placed their orders. As had become the norm, Max took their orders over to a table while Alia retrieved the condiments, napkins, and the like.

"How was everything at the office after I left?" he asked after they settled in to eat.

"Not as bad as I thought it would be," Alia replied. "Listen, David; you know that female reploid, that intruder?"

"Of course."

She absently ran her fingers through her hair. "Well, you might find this hard to understand, but…that…that was Layer."

He froze mid-chew, his eyes growing wide. "M-Miss Layer? That was Miss Layer?"

She nodded solemnly. "She had that body made to try to get Zero's attention."

He chuckled, but it sounded dry. "Well, it sounds like she succeeded, though not in the way she intended."

Alia burst into laughter, earning her a raised eyebrow. "I'm sorry; it's just that Commander Signas said almost exactly the same thing."

"Then I guess I'm in good company," he replied in a fake high-brow voice, causing her to laugh even more. "Seriously, though; why did she choose the design she did? I didn't get a very good look, but it seemed like it was really different than how she used to look."

Alia sobered as she thought back to her conversation with Signas. "I don't know how she got it, but I do know that it looks exactly like his girlfriend from the time of the Great Repliforce War."

"Wait…Zero had a girlfriend?" Max blinked with an expression of shock. "Damn, and I thought I knew everything about him. So, why is Miss Layer pursuing him if he already has a girlfriend?"

She opened her mouth, paused, then closed it again. "He… They ended up fighting each other during the war, and…he killed her."

The sandwich fell out of Max's hands and onto his plate. "H-He what?"

"She was part of Repliforce and he was, of course, a Maverick Hunter," she explained as he stared in mute shock. "Signas will be meeting us later to talk about the details, but I suspect that Zero ended up fighting her brother, Colonel, at some point and ended up killing him. I do know that Colonel was killed during the war, and that Iris was his sister…"

"…so she went after Zero to try to avenge her brother," Max finished. "Man, wars involving family are the worst." He gestured helplessly at his wife. "So, Layer shows up looking like the girl he loved and had to kill, and…yeah."

"Yeah. Poor Zero."

They returned to their meal, but the atmosphere had become more somber. The young couple would make eye contact every so often, only to look away again as they thought about Zero and his lost love.

Max was the one who eventually broke the silence: "I want to know how Miss Layer got the designs for Zero's girlfriend's body…what was her name?"

"Iris."

"I want to know how Miss Layer got Miss Iris' blueprints – or whatever it is you use – and I want to talk with both her and Mister Zero. Maybe whoever it was that built her new body, too."

Alia smiled inwardly at Max's polite use of her friends' names. "I'm sure the commander will be happy to give you whatever information you need, and I'm sure Layer would be grateful for anything you could do to help her."

Her eyes widened as a brief glare flickered across her husband's face. "Miss Layer may end up on the receiving end of an ass-chewing, figuratively speaking, by the time I'm done. But I'm going to hold off on any judgments until I have all the facts."

"D-David…?"

He glanced up at her face, and his expression softened as he sighed. "Sorry love, but from what I'm hearing, it sound like she used some very bad judgment, and without having done enough research, and that could have caused him needless grief. So, I'm not very happy with her right now. But…" he said, holding up a hand as she opened her mouth, "…like I said: I'll hold off on any judgments until I have all the facts."

"O-Okay," Alia stammered, feeling slightly unnerved by her husband's intensity. "Th-Thank you." While she was worried about her friend, she knew that her husband was a fair-minded and just individual.

The truth would be made known…for better or for worse.


	13. Rooftop Talk

**Chapter Thirteen: Rooftop Talk**

Max wobbled as he left the vehicle depot after another ride from Outrun. The reploid's style of driving still took some getting used to, but Max wasn't sure he'd survive the effort. "Well, let's see what the commander has discovered." His gait improved as he reached the elevators, and he was able to press the button for the correct floor without a thought. "Guess I'm getting used to the layout," he murmured as he gazed at the button panel. "Maybe I should submit an application."

The car reached the Command Level and the doors opened, revealing Commander Signas. "Ah, there you are Mr. Hannity. Welcome back."

"Thank you, sir," Max greeted. "Were you waiting for me?"

"Outrun informed me of your arrival," he tall reploid explained. "I have been most eager to explain our situation."

"I'm…honored," the human replied, then shook his head in mild amusement. "Mr. Outrun told you, huh? Man, you guys have a pretty tight comm system, don't you?"

"'Tight'?" Signas repeated, confused by the human's use of slang. "We…like to ensure the smooth operation of HQ and believe an efficient communications system is critical to its success."

"For what it's worth, I agree," Max replied as he followed the commander across the operations room. "Seems like the rest of us could learn a thing or two from you guys."

"Thank you." Signas led his guest through the door to his office, where Alia waited in one of the guest chairs. "If you would take a seat next to your wife, then we'll begin."

"Sure thing," Max replied as he settled into the chair next to his bride, looking over at her with a smile. "Hey, beautiful."

"Hey, handsome," she replied with a warm smile of her own.

Signas nosily cleared his throat. "Yes, well… Thank you for your willingness to help us with this issue, Mr. Hannity."

"No problem," Max said, trying to drag his gaze from his wife's smile. "Alia told me a little bit about what's going on, but…"

"Of course." Signas rose from his chair and began tapping the previously-unknown buttons on his desk. "As I'm sure Alia has told you already, Layer now inhabits a duplicate of Zero's lost friend, Iris."

Max shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Yeah, she did, but what I'm wondering is: why are you so concerned about the love lives of your subordinates?"

"Two reasons: One, I am always concerned about the well-being of those under my command, and Two: All of the details regarding the Great Repliforce War, including Iris' involvement, were supposed to have been sealed, known only to myself. And, of course, Zero and X. Even Axl doesn't know, unless one of them told him about her."

"Even I didn't know about her until the commander told me about her earlier today," Alia added, drawing her husband's attention. "What bothers me – and what I'm hoping we can find out from Layer – is how she got the information regarding Iris. If there's a leak inside HQ, we need to find it and…seal…wait…" Her eyes widened as she remembered. "Palette asked Axl to get her into Zero's quarters…"

"She what?" Signas blurted as Max gave her a concerned look.

She snapped out of her thoughts to look up at her former commander. "I have an idea what might have happened sir, but I'll need to talk to Palette to confirm my hypothesis."

"Hm… While I am not entirely comfortable with what I am hearing, I will leave it to the two of you, as originally planned. In the meantime, to continue…" Signas intoned as he redirected his attention to his desktop, "…Iris was Zero's navigator up until partway through the war with Repliforce."

"They were declared maverick due to their refusal to stand down after the Sky Lagoon incident, right?" Max asked.

"Correct," Signas replied. "While it was later confirmed that Magma Dragoon had caused the disaster, the previous Maverick Hunter commander received the information too late for it to be of any benefit. X and Zero had already decimated much of Repliforce before X faced him, who quickly admitted to causing the disaster due to a desire to fight X."

"He couldn't do like I did?" Max asked, his expression a mixture of confusion and astonishment. "Just show up outside HQ and yell 'I want to fight X' or something like that?"

"We believe he had been corrupted by the Sigma Virus by that point, enhancing his aggressive nature while reducing his higher cognitive functions," Signas explained.

"So many lives lost…" Max mused, shaking his head, "…and all for some guy's ego."

"An interesting interpretation, yet reasonable," the reploid commander acknowledged.

"So what does Zero's girl have to do with all this?"

"She was the sister of Colonel, General's second-in-command. Zero fought him and was forced to destroy him due to the Colonel's pride as a warrior."

"See, this is why I try to be humble," Max said, turning to his wife. "If you see me acting all prideful or anything, call me out, okay?"

"I'll do my best," she replied with a fond smile.

He returned her smile before turning back the commander. "So she fought Zero to avenge her brother?"

"That is our best understanding," Signas replied. "According to Hunter Commander Zero's report, she had somehow retrieved Colonel's core and fused with it in order to fight him. To fight Zero, that is."

"Man, wars involving family are the worst," Max sighed.

"Indeed."

"Well," Max said, clapping his hands on his knees as he stood, "at least I can see why Zero exploded this morning. I'll go talk to him. Oh, wait; before I do… How's he been doing?"

"From what I understand, Hunter Commanders X and Axl were able to calm him down somewhat. X last reported that he was on the roof of HQ, looking over the city."

"Brooding, huh?" Max grunted as he motioned for Alia to join him. "I don't blame him one bit. Well chief, I'll…see what I can do." He spread his hands in a shrug. "I'm no psychologist, but I'll do my best."

"Thank you; our hopes will be with the two of you."

"We won't let you down, sir," Alia said reassuringly as she followed her husband to the office door.

Signas watched the young couple leave the room and, as the door closed behind them, he leaned forward with his elbows on his desk, his chin on his folded hands, and a small smile started to spread across his face.

* * *

"Alia?"

"Yes?"

Max looked over at his wife as they waited for the elevator to arrive at their floor. "Could we make a stop by your place for some coffee? I have a feeling this is going to be a late night."

She smiled sympathetically at him. "Sure. Good thing it's Friday, huh?" The elevator arrived and they got on, and Alia pushed the button for the floor that contained her quarters. "How was work?"

"Fine," he sighed. "To be honest, though, I'm getting tired of pushing papers." He sent an awkward glance her way. "I'd like to dedicate my time to research stuff that can help others, not crunch numbers for some guys who think about tomorrow solely in terms of how much money they can make."

"Sounds frustrating," she murmured as she laid a hand on his arm.

"It's getting there, that's for sure," Max quipped.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened, and Alia led the way into the hall. "Maybe I could talk to Commander Signas," she suggested. "Maybe the Maverick Hunters could use someone with your skill and…inclinations."

"Maybe," he grunted. "I wouldn't want him using valuable resources on a guy who researches whatever strikes his fancy, though."

She giggled as they reached her quarters, and she quickly keyed in the code to open the door. "Your receptionist is…unique," she remarked as they entered the living room.

"Riiiight," he said, rubbing his neck as he took a seat in the same place he had that morning. "Sorry about that; Bev's the daughter of one of the board members. She's 'fire-proof'."

"That's too bad," Alia said as she headed to the kitchen. "No one should be immune to correction." She then flinched slightly as she remembered what Max had said about Layer and admonishments. "I'll…have the coffee out in a minute."

"Thanks."

The coffee was made, the coffee was brought out, and Alia settled next to her husband on the couch. "Here you go," she said as she set a steaming mug in front of him. "This should help."

He accepted the mug with a grateful expression and brought it to his lips. "Aaaahhhhh," he sighed after taking a sip. "Just what the doctor ordered."

Alia giggled lightly before taking a sip herself. She enjoyed the bitter flavor that washed over her simulated taste buds; her prior body's sense of taste was nowhere near as refined as her current one. The wonders of modern technology.

She was distracted from her musings when Max grunted, placing his mug on the coaster before him. "I need to pull myself together; I don't want to coddle Mr. Zero and blast Miss Layer. I need to keep it fair, balanced, and just."

"This is really bothering you, isn't it?" she asked.

"More than it probably should," he admitted, then scratched his cheek with an awkward expression. "I've just…known of too many women who manipulate men into liking them, or just…to do whatever she wants them to do."

"Do you think I'm like that?" she asked, alarmed.

"No, and that's one of the things I like about you," he replied as he reached out to cover her hand. "I've always felt like you've always been a straight-shooter with me, and I feel respected by you because of that. I know we had our early…confusion as to our respective natures, but I understand that was because we were both operating under faulty premises."

Alia felt her face heat up; since she still had the heart of a researcher, she loved it when her husband talked like one. "Y-Yeah…I understand what you mean."

If he noticed her discomfort, he didn't show it. "Anyway, since Miss Layer did her body-transfer-thingy to get Zero's attention, it just kinda pissed me off."

"What do you think she should have done?" she asked. "She's always been so shy and nervous around him even though she's crazy about him."

"Well, of course she's going to want to impress him," he said matter-of-factly. "But if she wants to be with him, then she should be thinking about what she has to offer him, not what she can do to make him like her'." He shrugged with his hands. "Maybe they're ultimately incompatible personality-wise; what happens if she wins his affection based on falsehoods? He's going to feel lied to – which wouldn't be wrong, really – and it could cause him to hate her."

"Precisely what she wants to avoid…" Alia mused, her eyes losing focus. "Layer…you idiot."

"Is he her first love interest?"

"As far as I know, yes."

"So she's young, in a manner of speaking," he observed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I think the first thing we'll need to do is get her back in her old body, assuming it hasn't been…disposed of or something."

Alia shuddered at the thought; how would her friend react if she found out she was stuck with a body that would only cause pain in the man she loved? "Then…we should talk with Douglas first; he's responsible for upgrades and the like. He should at least know something."

"Douglas, huh?" Max grunted as he retrieved his mug. "Yeah, I think I see what you mean." He quickly drained the last of his coffee and got to his feet. "We'd better clean up here and find him; I'll want to talk to him as soon as possible."

"Are you going to be okay?" Alia asked, worried as they entered the kitchen to clean their mugs. "You've just had some caffeine, but you're still coming up on the end of your diurnal cycle, aren't you? You'll need to sleep before long, won't you?"

"I'm not going to be able to sleep with this hanging over my head," he told her as they headed back to the living room after having set the mugs out to dry. "I'll get as much done as I can before I run out of gas. If I can at least talk with Mr. Zero and get some ideas about how to help Miss Layer, I can work on the rest tomorrow."

"If you're sure…"

"No, not really, but it's all I can do right now," he said matter-of-factly as they headed out into the hallway. "I have a basic plan of attack, but I'm going to have to improvise the best I can depending on how things go with the two of them."

"I'll support you to the best of my ability," she said softly as she took his arm.

He chuckled as he reached over to pat her hand. "I know you will, beautiful. Thanks."

She blushed slightly as they headed down the hallways, Alia subtly leading him by the arm to the Engineering section. She wasn't sure how late Douglas stayed in his department, but for Layer's sake she hoped that he would still be there.

Fortunately, Douglas was still at work: "Hey, Alia!" he greeted, grabbing a towel to wipe his hands as they entered the Engineering Center. "How's the new elbow joint working out for you? Is it working okay?"

"It's working fine, thank you," she replied, giving her husband an embarrassed glance.

"Yeah, sorry about that; I really didn't know it had a weak rotator or I wouldn't have installed it."

"Don't worry about it," she said before giving her husband's arm a squeeze. "Listen, Douglas; David really needs to talk to you; can you spare a few minutes?"

"David?" the engineering reploid asked with a puzzled look. "I thought his name was-"

"MAX! Yes, Max!" she interrupted. "It's just that-"

"Calm down, Alia, it's okay," Max said with a pat to her hand before addressing the engineer. "Good evening, Mr. Douglas. I go by 'Max' but I've asked my wife to call me by my first name, which is 'David'."

"Ah. Got it," Douglas replied with a thumbs-up. "Nice to meet you, sir, and thanks for taking care of Alia for us."

"No problem," Max replied easily. "Listen, could I bother you with a few questions?"

"Sure!" Douglas replied as he made his way over to one of the many workstations in the room. "The boss called ahead and told me you two'd probably be coming down and to help out in any way I can."

"I appreciate it," Max said with a friendly smile. "I'll try not to take much of your time. I guess I'll get the most unpleasant one out of the way: Do you still have Miss Layer's…old body?"

"Actually I do," Douglas replied as he moved from the workstation to one of the many pods that lined the walls of the room. "Why? Does she need it back?"

"She…might," Max answered as he exchanged a glance with his wife. "See, Miss Layer's gotten herself into some…trouble because of her design choice."

"What do you mean?"

Max exchanged another glance with Alia before replying. "Well, it turns out that her body design was that of one of Zero's old…acquaintances, which didn't go over very well."

"Damn," the engineering reploid grunted. "I thought the design looked familiar. Any idea where she got it?"

"Not yet," Alia replied with a shake of her head. "We've just started our investigation; we're here to see you to see what Layer's options are for remedying her situation."

"Well, it's in here," Douglas said as he patted the side of the pod. "She only transferred yesterday, so it's not like I've had a lot of time to do anything with it."

"O-Okay…thank you…" Max said, looking a little green.

"David, are you okay?" Alia asked worriedly.

Max held up a trembling hand has he leaned against a nearby table. "I'll…be fine. I'm just starting to feel a little nauseous at the idea of swapping bodies and referring to a body as an 'it'.

"That's right; you're a human, aren't you?" Douglas said as he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that, sir."

Max took a couple of deep breaths before straightening again. "I'll be fine; I married into the family, so I'll just have to get used to the way the family does things."

"David…" Alia giggled.

Max stepped up to the pod and looked in through the small glass window. Sure enough, Layer's former body rested inside, its eyes closed. If Max didn't know any better he'd swear that Layer herself was sleeping in there. "Is…? How do I phrase this…? Is Miss Layer's new body better than her old one, technologically speaking?"

"Quite a bit, actually," Douglas replied easily. "That's part of the reason I wasn't surprised she wanted an upgrade. Her wanting an entirely new body was a surprise, though."

"How many allotments would it take to get her old body current?" Alia found herself asking.

"Allotments?" Max asked.

"Because we have limited resources, we use an allotment system for any improvements," the blonde reploid explained. "How many allotments did Layer end up using?"

"Three," Douglas replied awkwardly. "She wouldn't have been due for a total replacement for about ten to fifteen years."

"And why wasn't Commander Signas notified about this?"

"I do have some discretion in my department," Douglas huffed as he straightened just noticeably. "She wasn't getting anything dangerous or excessive installed – to the best of my knowledge, at least – so protocol did not require that I tell him."

"I…I wasn't questioning your authority," Alia stammered as she unconsciously moved behind her husband ever so slightly. "I've only worked in Navigation, so I don't know what protocols you have down here."

The engineer's expression immediately softened. "Sorry, Alia. I guess I'm just feeling responsible for Layer's situation; if my work caused a rift between her and Zero, then I feel like it's my fault."

"I suspect the fault may lie…" Max interjected before cutting himself off with a shake of his head. "You received an order for an upgrade and satisfied it; you did your job to the best of your ability."

"Yessir."

"Thank you, Mr. Douglas," Max said with a polite bow before turning to his wife and gesturing to the exit. As they left Engineering he said, "I think the best next step would be to try to talk with Mr. Zero…provided he's willing to talk to me."

"Why do you say that?" she asked as they entered the hallway. "You seem to get along okay."

"We haven't talked enough to have much of a rapport," Max explained as they stopped in front of the elevator doors. "I'm probably gonna need to ask him about some pretty personal stuff, but I haven't proven myself as trustworthy to him just yet."

"I see…" Alia mused. "I could see that being a problem, yes." The elevator doors opened, allowing them entry, and Alia pressed the button for the topmost floor. "The elevator doesn't go all the way up, so we'll need to take a couple of flights of stairs to reach the roof," she told him.

"Al right," he replied as he crossed his arms. "Listen, I'm going to need some 'serious time' to think about how I'm going to approach Mr. Zero. I know a lot about him, but he knows next to nothing about me, so I'm going to have to figure out how to help build his trust while we talk."

"Okay," she said, briefly laying a hand on the side of his face before stepping away, giving him space as she leaned against the rail. She watched as he leaned his head back against the wall of the elevator and closed his eyes and took the opportunity to study her husband. Every so often his eyebrows would lower or his forehead would wrinkle, and she smiled as she wondered what he was thinking at those moments. She felt her reactor speed up as she thought about how fortunate she was to be so close to someone so open and honest, who wanted to be the best he could be and encourage those around him to do the same. She felt so close to him but wished there was a way to feel even closer…

She blinked out of her reverie as the car came to a stop and saw his eyes open at the same time as the elevator doors. "Well, I'm about as ready as I'm going to be," he announced with what sounded like resignation as he tugged on the sleeves of his black jacket. "Lead the way, beautiful."

She blushed at the nickname yet again as she led him out of the elevator and down the hall the short distance to the door to the stairwell. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I will be," he replied as they ascended the stairs. "I'm not stupid enough to believe that this'll be easy, but all I can do is…well, do my best to do right by Mr. Zero and Miss Layer."

She stopped him just before the door leading to the roof, cupping his face in her hands. "For what it's worth, David; I believe in you."

He smiled as he covered her hands with his before pulling them away to plant a kiss on each of her palms. "Thanks; that means more to me than anything." He then released her hand, his expression turning serious as he reached out to take hold of the door handle. "Off we go."

Even though he hadn't been expecting anything in particular, he was surprised at how quiet it was on the roof. It made sense, though; Maverick Hunter HQ was a very tall building, putting the roof far away from the hustle and bustle of life below. He couldn't see Zero anywhere, so he headed to the other side of the small structure that housed the stairwell to continue his search.

It didn't take him long to find X and Axl; they had their back to him, watching what he assumed was Zero. "Gentlemen," he greeted.

They turned as one. "Mr. Hannity," X greeted with a smile, while Axl opted to cross his arms with a grin.

Max saw Zero a respectful distance beyond the duo and gestured toward the red-clad hunter. "How is he?"

"He's been there all day," X said. "We've tried talking to him, but it's like we're not even there."

"Okay," Max acknowledged. "Would either of you object to letting me have a go at him?"

"Signas told us to help you and Alia out in any way we could," Axl said with a shrug. "If getting out of your way helps…well, it pisses me off since I'm a man of action, but…" he stepped aside, making a show of gesturing toward the brooding reploid. "…if it helps, he's all yours."

"Thank you, gentlemen; I'll do my best," Max promised as he fixed his gaze on his idol. "Excuse me." With that, he headed over to his 'client', making sure his steps were measured and purposeful and, when he got close enough, made sure that Zero could see him long before he sat on the roof nearby, his legs out in front of him and his arms rested on bent knees.

He sat there for several minutes, saying nothing but looking out over the city like the hunter next to him.

Finally, Zero spoke: "What do you want?"

Max thought about his answer for a moment. "Just here 'cause I'm worried about you."

"I see."

They continued to sit for several minutes, neither man saying anything but watching as the sun slowly slid behind the distant mountains, creating a hauntingly beautiful silhouette.

"Aren't you going to say anything else?" Zero asked.

"I'm not here for me," Max replied casually as he shifted his position to face Zero. "I'm here for you."

"I'm fine, but thanks."

"Okay." With that, Max returned to his original posture to watch the sun set.

Several more minutes of silence.

"How much do you know about the war with Repliforce?" Zero asked out-of-the-blue.

"Only that I lost my parents to it," Max replied matter-of-factly. "Beyond that, I don't know any more than what the media reported. I'll admit I learned a little more about it from your boss earlier today, though; he told me that a lot of the records about the war were sealed."

"Did he tell you about Iris?"

Max nodded slowly; he wanted to tread carefully from that point on. "He…did. To be honest, I was hoping that you'd be willing to tell me about her."

Zero snorted. "And what could I tell you that Commander Signas couldn't?"

"Your boss knows about Miss Iris," Max said, "but you actually knew her; that's why I want to hear about her from you."

Zero was slightly taken aback by the human's statement. "Why would you even care? She died a long time ago."

"She was important to you," Max replied matter-of-factly, casting his gaze over at the hunter.

Zero blinked a couple of times in thought. "To me…"

"What was she like, Mr. Zero? What was she to you?"

"She was…" Zero struggled with the question; he never really thought about his relationship with her. He knew that she had meant a lot to him, but he never stopped to think about why.

"Maybe a different question," Max said, reaching up to scratch his five-o-clock shadow. "What did she add to your life? How did she make your life better?"

"She…She made me happy."

"That's cool."

Zero shifted his position, sitting up to rest his elbow on his knee and his chin on his white-gloved hand. "She always had a smile on her face…when she wasn't getting on me about something, at least," he finished, a smile starting to spread.

"Sounds like a supportive woman."

Zero blinked, raising his head to look at the human. "She was my navigator, so yeah, she supported me."

"No no," Max said, shaking his head. "I'm not talking about professionally; I'm talking about personally. It sounds like she cared about the kind of man you were, or were becoming. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gotten on you about stuff."

"Yeah," the hunter replied, a little unnerved by the man's insight. "I was…closer to her than I'd ever been to anyone before. Even X."

"Would you say that she completed you?"

"Completed me?"

"Like…" Max licked him lips, trying to find the right words. "Like she was strong where you were weak and weak where you were strong."

"Y-Yeah… You know that she was the result of an experiment in trying to create a reploid warrior that was also peaceful, right?"

"No, I didn't know that," Max admitted. "How'd that turn out?"

"The scientists ended up creating two reploids; one to be the warrior and the other to be the peacemaker."

"I take it that Miss Iris got the peacemaker role?"

"And Colonel…" Zero started, but his eyes lost focus. "…he, uh…was the warrior."

"Did you end up having to fight him?" Max asked quietly, carefully.

Zero leaned back again. "Yeah, at the Space Port. His damn pride…" Zero thumped the roof under him a couple of times with his fist. "I know that Sigma was behind it all, but… and then Iris…"

"What about Miss Iris?"

"She somehow caught up with me on the satellite," Zero said, staring off into the darkened sky. "She had her brother's core, and fused with it, creating a power armor…"

"Did she attack you?" Max asked, still quietly.

The hunted bobbed his head several times in a nod. "She asked me to forgive her before we fought, but… I had basically killed half of her, so…yeah."

"That really sucks. I'm really sorry you had to go through that."

Zero barked a humorless laugh. "You know, everyone thinks I'm so strong and that I'm all better now that Sigma's gone… Even though I finally figured out what I was fighting for, it cost…way too much."

"I think I understand," Max said sympathetically. "A life, any life, has infinite value, so…any life lost is one too many. Even harder when it's someone we love."

Zero's eyes snapped over to the human. "What do you mean, 'someone we love'?"

Max smiled gently as he gestured to the hunter. "You loved her; it's as clear as day. She completed you. And you completed her."

"Completed…"

"And when that one who we're so close to is taken away, it takes a part of us with them."

"Yeah, you're right…" Zero stared blankly for a moment before rubbing vigorously at his face. "How do you know all this?"

"I read a lot," Max answered honestly. "But, more importantly, I live life. I've loved and lost as well, though I'll admit that I haven't lost as much as you have."

"I'd have to disagree," Zero grunted with a sidelong glance. "I'm sorry about your parents."

"Ah, yeah," Max replied, his voice heavy as he scratched the top of his head. "Thanks."

The red-clad warrior sighed heavily. "And then Layer pulls this shit…"

"Yup…" Max grunted in agreement. "Look, from what I can tell she didn't know any better; is there any way you could forgive her for it?"

Zero's expression darkened. "What the hell was she thinking, getting a body that looks like Iris'? And how did she get the information, anyway? Signas promised that all of her data would be sealed away!"

"That's what I'm hoping to find out," Max told him. "Your boss asked Alia and I to find out what's going on, but I wanted to see how you were doing before I talk to Miss Layer."

"Thanks." Zero looked back to the hills, behind which the sun had disappeared, before getting to his feet. "It's getting cold outside, Mr. Hannity." He reached out a white-gloved hand toward the human. "We'd better head back in."

Max stared at the proffered hand before accepting it with a look of childlike wonder, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. "Y-Yes, sir."

Zero gave him a lopsided smile before turning to head back toward X and Axl, who still stood waiting. "Sorry to keep you waiting, guys."

"Are you okay, Zero?" X asked with a worried look.

Zero stopped to rest a hand on the shoulder of his old friend. "Better, thanks."

"You ready to head back in, gramps?" Axl taunted.

An annoyed expression flickered across the veteran Maverick Hunter's face before resolving itself into a wicked grin. "I'm ready, but I haven't done my training for the day. How about we spar for a bit…sonny?"

Max made absolutely no effort to contain the grin on his own face.

"Uh…sure…" Axl replied with uncertainty at the look on Zero's face. "L-Let's go…"

As they parted ways at the elevator doors, Axl to his thrashing and X to his quarters, Max met up with his wife and took a deep breath as they headed down the hall toward Layer's quarters…and, hopefully, some answers.


	14. Going Home

**Chapter Fourteen: Going Home**

The couple stood awkwardly outside the door to Layer's quarters. "Well, here we are," Alia said somewhat lamely. "Are you ready?"

Max sighed, studying the door as though he could learn something from it. "As ready as I can be…I think."

Alia gave him an encouraging smile as she reached out to press the call button.

Unsurprisingly, the voice they heard through the speaker was Palette's. _"Be right there."_ A few seconds later, the door whooshed open to reveal the short, blonde navigator. "Hey, you two!" she greeted, then looked over her shoulder. "Layer, Alia and Max are here!"

"Please come in," a weak, still-unfamiliar voice sounded from farther in the room.

Palette turned back to the couple with a bright smile. "You heard her; come in, come in!"

Max and Alia shared a cautious smile before he gestured for her to enter first. They quickly found the brown-haired girl seated on a sofa, several wads of tissue littering the table before her, likely from the small box that rested on the cushion next to her. "H-Hello, Alia…"

Alia said nothing at first but quickly made her way to her friend's side, moving the tissue box to sit and wrap the distraught girl in a hug. "Are you okay?"

"I'm…okay," she replied, bringing another tissue to her eyes. "I really blew it, Alia."

"It's going to be okay," Alia tried to reassure her. "The commander has asked David and me to try to help out as much as we can."

"Th-Thank you."

"Are you up to answering a few questions, Miss Layer?" Max asked gently.

She looked to her blonde friend next to her, who simply smiled softly. "I-I think so."

"Now, I have to let you know, some of these questions might be uncomfortable," he explained. "But, if you'll do your best to answer them you could help Zero out quite a bit."

The navigator blinked, seeming to gain some resolve as she straightened in her seat. "I'll do my best."

"Thank you." Max paused briefly, exchanging a glance with his wife before asking his first question. "How did you get the design for your new body?"

Layer paled as she started to tremble. "I…We…"

"I got it for her!" Palette blurted, then quickly ducked her head. "It's…It's not Layer's fault."

"How did you get it for her?" Max asked gently, turning to face the short reploid.

Palette's head appeared to sink into her slight shoulders. "I…got Axl to override the locks on the door to Zero's quarters and…"

The impromptu investigators exchanged a look of alarm, but said nothing.

The short navigator fell into a nearby chair, her legs unable to support her any more. "…I copied some stuff from Zero's computer to a portable drive and gave it to her."

"What kind of information did you get?" Max asked. "I'm not asking for specifics, just…categories."

"Journal entries… a lot of image files, and…some video files," Palette replied, her gaze firmly locked on her clasped hands.

Max and Alia exchanged a look of concern. "You know that unauthorized access to personal quarters is against HQ protocols," Alia said carefully.

"I know!" Palette exclaimed, suddenly meeting Alia's gaze with teary eyes. "But Layer's been wanting him for so long, and we had the chance to learn about him so she could figure out how to impress him, and…" She threw up her hands, letting them fall into her lap. "I'm so sorry."

"You know that we're going to have to inform Commander Signas," Alia added.

"I know," Palette said, nodding sadly. "I just…"

"You wanted to help a good friend," Alia said with a sympathetic smile.

"Y-Yeah…"

Max nodded with a grunt as he returned his attention to the brown-haired girl. "So you got your body design from the information Miss Palette gave you?"

A single nod along with another dab of the eyes.

He sighed heavily. "Miss Layer… How do I say this…? That design you found? That was Miss Iris, Zero's deceased…lover."

"I…I know."

Max blinked in surprise. "You…You know?"

She nodded sadly. "I've loved him for a long time, but I've been too afraid to tell him. I guess I figured that if I showed up like this that he'd approach me."

"You had to have known that it wouldn't work," Alia told her. "He lost her a long time ago; what made you think he'd accept you like this?"

"I…I don't know."

"Miss Layer…" Max started, and Alia could tell that her husband was trying to keep his anger in check. "I just spent I-don't-know-how-long making sure that Mr. Zero's okay, and all because of 'I don't know'?"

"I…I'm sorry…"

"Sorry?" Max couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're playing with a man's heart here, do you understand that? A man's heart! From what I understand, it took X and Axl most of the day to calm him down. I went up to the roof to find him looking out over the city. Do you understand?"

"I…I hurt him."

"That's right." Max crossed his arms as he glared down at the trembling reploid. "You know, it's great that you like him, but…honestly? This was a really stupid way to try to get his attention."

"David!"

"Not now, Alia," Max said carefully before returning his glare to Layer. "You want Zero? I'll help you get Zero, but first: you are going to go to Engineering and get back in your old body, do you understand?"

"Hey!" Palette yelled, hopping to her feet. "You can't come in here and start telling us what to do!"

"Palette," Alia said, cautiously glancing at her husband as she rose to her feet as well, "it'll be okay. Calm down."

"Calm down?" Palette was uncharacteristically feisty. "This human comes in – who barely knows us, by the way – and starts telling us what to do?" She crossed her arms. "Why should we listen to him?"

"He's my husband," Alia answered simply as she moved to Max's side and laid a hand on his arm. "I trust him. And you can trust me."

"Layer..." Palette said, hurrying over to plop down on the floor in front of her friend. "You're not really going to do it, are you? You worked so hard for this! You gave up so much for this!"

"And what is 'this' that you worked so hard and sacrificed for?" Max asked with compassion in his softening tone as he uncrossed his arms. "A new body that has caused Mr. Zero to become even more distant? That's not what you wanted, was it? Miss Layer, if you wish to stay in that….body…" he said, starting to look a little uncomfortable, "…that's your choice. Just know that the one you claim to love will be hurt every time he sees you, not to mention how he might feel if he finds out how you got the design."

"The commander might have to order you out of that body, too," Alia added. "All of Iris' information had been sealed… Other than what you got from Zero's computer, at least."

"So, what do you say?" Max said, moving to stand before Layer and extending a hand. "Let's get you back home and try something else…okay?"

"L-Layer….?" Palette said worriedly.

The brown-haired reploid turned an uncertain gaze from Palette to Alia, and finally to Max. "L-Let's go, Mr. Hannity," she said, hesitantly reaching out to take his hand and allow herself to be helped to her feet. "I…I want to do this the right way."

Max exchanged a smile with his wife before looking back to the troubled reploid. "Then we'll support you to the best of our ability."

* * *

Palette followed the trio into the hallway, watching Layer as she allowed herself to be led along by Alia and her husband. While she didn't like that idea of the human bossing her friend around, she couldn't really argue with his logic. She blinked as the thought occurred to her that Layer might need someone to 'take over' for a while as she recovered from her situation. Even though she wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea, she decided to give Max a chance to prove himself…under her watchful eye, of course; even though she may have frequently teased her formerly-statuesque friend, she really did want the best for her.

She snapped out of her thoughts in time to see the double-doors for Engineering up ahead. "Will Douglas still be here?" she heard Layer ask as they stopped before the entrance.

"Only one way to find out," Alia said as she reached out to the console next to the door and tapped the 'call' button.

" _This is Douglas."_ The group breathed a collective sigh of relief at the sound of the engineer's voice. _"Is that you, Layer?"_

"I…I am here…" Layer said, stepping closer to the console.

" _You going back home?"_ he asked, and they could hear the smile in his tone as the doors started to open. _"Come on in; I've been waiting for you."_

Layer shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she gazed at the now-open entrance.

"Do…you really want to go back?" Palette asked.

Max noticed Layer's hesitation and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Do you feel like you'll be giving up if you go back to your old – I mean previous – body? It's okay to be afraid; just be honest with yourself."

The brown-haired reploid took a deep breath before stepping through the doorway to Engineering, seeming more confident with each step though she still hesitated every so often.

"Hey, there you are!" Douglas exclaimed as the group finally entered the main room. "I was starting to wonder if you'd changed your mind and left."

"H-Hello, Douglas," Layer managed to greet as she broke away from the group to approach her coworker. "I'm…sorry for any trouble I've caused you."

"No problem," he said, matching her quiet tone. "Are you here to go back?"

A simple nod.

He returned her gesture before heading to a familiar pod; the one she had exited from just the day prior. He tapped a few buttons on the side, and the cover slid open, revealing an empty seat. "We can transfer whenever you're ready."

She gave him a grateful look before moving to the pod that contained her former – and future – body. "It's weird, seeing my old self from the outside like this," she remarked in a subdued tone. "It doesn't look the way I remember."

"If it helps, humans say the same kinds of things when they see photographs of themselves," Max offered as he stepped up next to her. "It's the 'mirror effect' or something like that."

She giggled softly, then sighed at the realization that the next time she giggled….well, she might not ever have a reason to giggle again. "It's weird, but I'm going to miss this body."

Max simply smiled down at her, unsure how to respond.

"Well…" she said, heading to the empty pod where Douglas stood waiting, "…let's get this over with." She slid into the pod and made herself as comfortable as she could before giving the engineer a reserved smile. "S-Send me home, Douglas…please."

"Yes, ma'am." He tapped at the console on the side of the pod, and the door quickly yet silently slid shut, sealing with a soft *click*. Through the pod's window she saw him move to a familiar console a short distance away. _"Shut down all of your nonessential systems,"_ he instructed her through the pod's speaker. After she had done so he pressed a few buttons on the console. _"Connection confirmed."_ He looked over at her. _"Are you sure you're ready?"_

She knew it wasn't as though he couldn't move her back, but still… "I'm ready."

He gave her a nod before pressing a few more buttons. Then, like the last time, he pressed one final button, and Layer's world went dark once again…

* * *

She opened her eyes to the inside of a pod. She knew she was back in her old body when she noticed that the pod's window was lower than it had been just a few seconds prior. Something seemed strange, though; when she had transferred from her old body to the new one, she had noticed an improvement in her visual acuity, likely due to Douglas' improvements to her blueprints for the new body. Moving back should have seen her with comparatively reduced visual acuity, however…

She blinked in surprise as the door started to slide open, revealing the rest of the Engineering Department along with her friends.

"Take it slow," Douglas warned as she started to exit the pod. "We can't be sure how much you adjusted to your shorter height, so take it slowly until you're sure you've got your bearings."

Layer nodded in acknowledgement, feeling a slight sense of relief at the sensation of her long, much-straighter hair gently caressing her backside.

"Can I help?" Max asked, appearing at her periphery with his hands held toward her.

She nodded gratefully as she took hold of his proffered hands; she was feeling a little disoriented after having been shorter for a day, so the extra support was welcome.

"One step at a time…" he said encouragingly as she finally exited the pod on unsteady legs.

"She's not a child," Palette said in a scolding tone, though it didn't have much conviction behind it.

"It's okay," Layer said, nearly stumbling in surprise at the sound of her old voice…which also sounded differently than what she remembered. "I appreciate the encouragement."

"Don't be afraid to use me or one of the others to lean on," Max said as he carefully released her hands. "We're here to help you out."

"Th-Thank you, Mr. Hannity," she replied as she briefly leaned on a nearby table to steady herself.

"How are you feeling, Layer?" Palette asked worriedly as she approached her friend.

"A little disoriented," the shapely reploid replied as she started at her hand. "It's strange; my vision looks exactly the same as when I was in the other body, but I know that one had better eyes than this one."

Alia turned to the engineer, who stood nearby with arms crossed and a smirk plastered on his face. "Douglas? Do you know what she's talking about?"

Everyone nearly jumped as he burst out laughing. "Yeah, as a matter of fact I do!" he exclaimed. "I had a feeling you'd be coming back, so I went ahead and applied the most current upgrades to your old body. Optics, vocal processor, joints…"

"You what?" Layer said, still working on her bearings.

Douglas laughed again as he carefully patted the navigator on the shoulder. "You've been upgraded, Layer! I haven't changed any of your aesthetics; I just replaced a few things that needed replacing as well as upgraded a few of your systems because…" he shrugged with an awkward grin. "…I enjoy my work."

"Thank you, Douglas," Layer replied, feeling a little overwhelmed at his kindness. "Wait…I thought I used at least three upgrades for the new body. Where did these upgrade allotments come from?"

His smile turned embarrassed. "Well, you see…"

"Douglas? Did the commander tell you to do this?" Alia asked, somewhat concerned.

"No no!" the engineer exclaimed with a wave of his hands. "I still have discretion in my department, of course."

"So, where did the allotment come from?" Max asked.

Douglas held up his hands and studied them. "Let's just say it's a good thing I like these hands."

Four pairs of eyes widened almost in unison as the realization set in. "You… You mean…?" Layer started.

"You used your own?" Palette interjected, finishing the taller navigator's thought.

The engineer shrugged. "Hey, friends take care of friends, right? And we're all friends here. Besides, it's just one allotment and since I'm an Engineering-class reploid I'll qualify for two more in about six months."

"Mr. Douglas; you are the man!" Max exclaimed as he stepped up to clap the engineer on the shoulder.

"Douglas…" Palette breathed. "Thanks a lot!"

"Hey, like I said: Friends take care of fr-AWF!" His response was suddenly cut off by the newly-transferred reploid grabbing him up in a hug.

"Thank you so much, Douglas," she shuddered as she squeezed her friend. "I am so sorry for the trouble I've caused you."

"N-No problem…" he managed, secretly thrilled at the feeling of her generous bosom pressed against the side of his head. "N-Now…go get your man."

"We'll have to start on that tomorrow," Max said as he stifled a yawn. "This human needs his recharge time."

"The three of us don't need to wait, though," Palette protested. "We don't need sleep, so we can-"

"No," Layer interrupted as she released the blushing engineer. "I want Mr. Hannity involved. I made some poor choices, but he helped set me straight so I want him involved."

"O-Okay…" Palette stammered, surprised by her friend's resolve. "W-We'll wait, then."

"Let's get you something to eat," Alia suggested as she took her husband by the arm. "Then, we'll get you home."

"Sounds good," Max grunted. "Well, not really; I'd prefer to sleep with my wife, but considering the circumstances…" he trailed off as the expressions of shock on the navigators' faces and one of amusement on the engineer's. "Sorry; feeling a little punchy from fatigue. I'll stop talking now."

The group shared a friendly chuckle as they headed out of Engineering. "Good luck with Zero," Douglas said as he punched in the code to lock the department doors. "For what it's worth, I'll be rooting for you."

"Thank you, Douglas," the purple-haired navigator replied. "I'll do my best."

The engineer gave the group a wink and a smile before turning and heading toward his own quarters.

"Are you okay?" Alia asked her husband as the four of them started back to Layer's quarters.

"I'm fine," he said with an awkward smile and a wave of a hand. "Just need a good night's sleep; I think I'll be able to do that with how today went."

"I'm…sorry for causing problems for you like this," Layer said quietly, her eyes downcast.

"Hey, I chose to get involved," Max said as he patted the purple-haired girl on the shoulder. "I just hope things work out all right."

"Thank you."

Palette nibbled on her lip as she trailed behind the group; while it had seemed like a great idea at the time, she was starting to realize the trouble she and Axl could have caused, not just for herself but for Layer as well. "Actually, the trouble I caused…" she murmured to herself. "Axl only got involved 'cause I tempted him." She suddenly felt a wave of guilt as she realized that she might have used her special someone to do something bad. "I'm sorry, Axl…"

"Did you say something, Palette?"

The short reploid jerked at Alia's sudden question. "I…I was just…thinking out loud. Sorry."

"It's okay," Alia replied. "We just didn't want you to feel left out."

"I'm fine."

Alia gave her friend a lingering look of concern before returning her gaze ahead.

They arrived at Layer's quarters, and the group waited as she keyed in her code. "Can you be here tomorrow, Mr. Hannity?" she asked as the door slid open.

"Of course!" he exclaimed, if wearily. "I plan on being here about…nine?" He looked to his wife, who nodded with a smile. "Yeah, nine. Breakfast out, then we'll find you and get to work."

"Would ten-o-clock be okay?" Alia asked, taking over for her exhausted husband.

Layer thought for a moment. "Barring any Maverick attacks, that should be fine."

"A-Are you going to be okay getting home?" Palette asked the human.

"I'm going to sign out a vehicle and take him home myself," Alia replied before Max could open his mouth.

"Couldn't he just sleep in your quarters?" Layer suggested. "I'm sure the commander wouldn't mind; he is your husband, after all."

The blonde reploid shook her head. "I would, but he needs something to eat, and most restaurants are going to be closed by now."

"Oh. Of course. Well, have a safe trip. Good night everyone," Layer said, giving a small bow before entering her quarters, the door sliding shut behind her.

"Let's get you home," Alia said as she started to lead Max toward the Vehicle Depot.

"Can I come with you?"

The young couple blinked in surprise at Palette's request. "I…suppose…" Alia said, then looked to her husband. "Do you mind?"

"it's fine," he chuckled with a wave of his hand. "I'm too tired to discuss it, anyway."

The short reploid gnawed on her lip some more as she followed the Hannitys to the garage. The truth was, she didn't want to be alone at that time; she knew that her guilty feelings would eat her alive if given the chance, and they would very much have that chance if she was by herself. She studied Max's back as she walked, and internally cringed at the idea of all the meat and bones she knew resided under his skin and she found herself wondering why she had encouraged Alia to go out with him in the first place.

She then thought back to everything the human had done since entering their lives; dating Alia while being a near-perfect gentleman, proposing to her in spite of their very different natures, fighting X to try to fit in… Suddenly his back looked different; while Alia could get upgrades and new bodies, Max had to somehow make do with what he'd been born with. She suddenly felt a bit of admiration…along with a little more guilt.

She continued to gnaw on her lip as they entered the depot and Alia headed over to a terminal to work on signing out a vehicle. "Mr. Hannity?"

"Yes, Miss Palette?" he said, and she listened closely to the sound of his voice; it sounded almost the same as always, but with some differences that she understood had to do with his current fatigue level. She hadn't interacted with humans very much, so to hear the differences in his tone as well as see the way he carried himself was interesting.

"Thank…Thank you for being so good to Alia," she said as she studied his face.

"My pleasure," he replied with a sleepy smile. "She makes it easy, actually; she's an amazing woman."

"Y-Yeah…" She licked her dry lips. "Could…Could we talk soon?" She glanced over at Alia. "Just…you and me?"

He blinked in surprise. "I…suppose. I'd have to talk with my wife first; I'm not comfortable with the idea of being alone with another woman…"

Palette cast her gaze to the floor as she felt her face heat up at his reference to her as a 'woman'.

"…but if there's something I can help you with, I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you," she said, looking up again to study his face. "I know you're tired, so…"

"We'll work something out," he said, giving her another sleepy smile.

"Okay," she replied, a smile starting to spread. "I'm going to go to my quarters. Good night, Mr. Hannity," she said with a small bow.

"Good night, Miss Palette," he returned warmly as he ducked his head.

She giggled as she turned and nearly skipped to the entrance to the depot.

"Where's Palette going?" Alia asked as she returned in time to see her coworker disappear from view. "I thought she was coming with us."

He shrugged with one shoulder. "I dunno; she asked about talking with me, and when I told her that I'd have to talk to you about it she bid me good-night and left."

"That's interesting," she said, her delicate brow lowering. "Did she say why she wanted to talk?"

He shook his head. "Naw, but it looked like something was bothering her. Listen, could we finish this talk later? I really need to eat something and get to bed."

"Of course. Sorry." She led him over to a small hover car, a two-seater, and unlocked it before heading around to the driver's side. "Let's get you home."

He grunted an acknowledgement as he opened the door and fell into his seat, and Alia started the car and carefully maneuvered it out of the garage; while she wasn't a professional driver like Outrun, she was a competent driver.

They were about halfway to his home when she asked, "So, what would you like to have for dinner?"

No answer.

"David?"

As they passed under a streetlight, she glanced over at her husband…and smiled to herself.

Somewhere along the way, Max had fallen fast asleep.


	15. A Message from the Author

I'm sorry for taking so long to explain myself.

First off, this fanwork is not 'dead', as the saying goes.

What has happened is that life has become too busy to write two fanworks at once (this and 'Broken Doll') so I'm focusing on the other fanwork until it is complete. After that I intend to return to 'Rebirth' and focus solely on it until it is complete. If you want to have some idea of when I'll be returning to this work, you can follow me on my Facebook page; I post every time I upload a new chapter, so you'll know when I finish the other fanwork.

Thank you for your patience and, again, my apologies for not addressing this sooner.


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